Survivor Voices: Life After Domestic Violence
When people hear the phrase domestic violence, they usually picture bruises. But the truth is, the hardest wounds don’t show up in photos. They’re in the silence after the yelling stops, in the way you flinch when a door slams, in the heavy guilt of wondering why you didn’t leave sooner. Maria told me that after her husband was gone, the quiet felt unbearable. She would sit in her kitchen at night, listening for footsteps that never came. At first she thought she had lost herself, but slowly she realized that silence was actually the sound of peace. Now, she says, it’s her favorite part of the day. Daniel’s story doesn’t fit the stereotype. He’s a man, and he stayed with an abusive partner for years because he was terrified no one would take him seriously. He kept his mouth shut until one night he couldn’t anymore. “I thought leaving made me weak,” he told me. “Turns out it made me strong.” Today he says he finally knows what it feels like to breathe without fear. Tasha left because of...
