Why Abuse Victims Stay

Leslie Morgan Steiner was in “crazy love” — that is, madly in love with a man who routinely abused her and threatened her life.

Steiner tells the dark story of her relationship, correcting misconceptions many people hold about victims of domestic violence, and explaining how we can all help break the silence. (Filmed at TEDxRainier.)

Leslie lived for several years in an abusive relationship.  Why did she stay so long?  Why did she not just leave? Why Abuse Victims Stay

What are the stages in any domestic violence relationship?

• Seduce and charm the victim
• Isolate the victim
• Introduce the threat of violence

This may even be your own story…

Biography courtesy of TEDTALK.COM

Leslie Morgan Steiner is the author of Crazy Love, a memoir about her marriage to a man who routinely abused and threatened her. In it she describes the harrowing details that unfolded unexpectedly — from the moment she met a warm, loving, infatuated man on the subway, to the moment he first laid a hand on her, when he grabbed her neck just days before their wedding. Steiner also edited Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families, a collection of essays by women struggling to balance motherhood and their careers.

Steiner received her MBA in marketing from Wharton School of Business and worked in marketing for Johnson & Johnson before transitioning to writing, as General Manager of the Washington Post Magazine. Steiner writes a weekly column called “Two Cents on Modern Motherhood,” for the website Mommy Track’d, and she has just finished her third book, on the effect of fertility treatments on modern motherhood.

Related Posts:

• Domestic Abuse – Ending the Paralysis of Shame

• Early signs of Domestic Abuse

• Violence Against Women – It’s a Men’s Issue

If you believe you’re in a abusive situation and need help please find below some free services helplines and websites:

• 24 hr National Domestic Violence Helpline – 0808 2000 247

• Lesbian and Gay Helpline -0300 330 0630

• Women’s Aid

• London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard

• refuge.org.uk