The Boston Women’s Collective put out the book Our Bodies, Ourselves to fill that information gap for women and the issues that nobody talks about.

Here is a page on domestic violence which explores the options for women and questions the culture that fosters the thinking that women are weak, therefore, it’s okay to smack them around. They don’t explore verbal abuse enough, however, and therein lies a big problem….

I don’t think most women know what verbal abuse is…especially in this culture of the put-down being “funny”.  “What’s the matter, can’t you take a joke….?”

Verbal abuse isn’t taken as seriously because there’s no bleeding or bruising involved.  It’s much easier, I think, for us to look at someone who is hurt on the outside and be shocked at the brutality.  But with verbal abuse, the “bruises” and “cuts” are on the inside and that pain is difficult to “see”.

Humiliation, put-downs, and disrespect are all apart of verbal abuse, among other things.  And verbal abuse almost always precedes physical abuse.

Verbal abuse kills the soul.

Physical abuse kills the body.