Like a Princess.

Critiques about the clothes you wear.
Isolation from friends and family.
Following you to the store, just to make sure.
Punishing you for talking on the phone after he's come home.
Hitting you for not loading the dishwasher correctly.
Making you second guess your decisions day in and out.

When did he stop treating you like a princess?

Artist Saint Hoax (a pseudonymous artist) created a series of posters using Disney Princesses as an awareness campaign for domestic violence. The purpose, Hoax said, was to depict princesses as abuse victims to reach a younger audience and encourage communication about a topic that is so often tiptoed around.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and while so often people discuss the impact of physical violence of a survivor, I think that they might miss the most common form of domestic violence... emotional abuse... which often leaves deeper wounds than its physical counterpart. Seeing clients in therapy who are survivors of emotional abuse through verbal insults, manipulation, and control seem to have the biggest struggle in changing their thought patterns from being trained to think that they are the cause of their abuser's behavior, to understanding that they had no control over the situation in regard to changing behavior. "If I would have just kept quiet".... "If only I wouldn't have rushed dinner"... "If I could have made the kids love him more"...

Domestic Violence Awareness Month is to bring light a very difficult subject. A subject that people are often afraid to bring up with others. We don't want to offend. We don't want to embarrass. But perhaps asking questions, or just providing an ear to listen, could be the opportunity an abuse survivor needs. Just a crack of hope, a crack that can open the gates to freedom.

If you or someone you know is in a domestic abuse situation and you need help, here are some resources for assistance:

Joyful Heart Foundation
National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women
The National Domestic Violence Hotline