Being a victim of violence at the hands of the person you chose to be your boyfriend/girlfriend can be a complicated experience and a difficult situation to solve:
- It is difficult to understand (and even to believe) that someone we like is able to hurt us.
- It is a betrayal to be hurt and mistreated by someone we trusted.
- It is not always easy to understand that what is going on is a form of abuse: “My boyfriend/girlfriend won’t let me be with my friends when he/she is there. Is this jealousy or abuse?”.
- Despite them mistreating us, we still like him/her.
- We don't want to hurt or let the other down.
- We don't want to be alone.
- We don't want to tell anyone what's going on.
- We are ashamed to tell anyone what's going on.
- We are afraid that something bad might happen to our boyfriend/girlfriend if we tell someone what is going on.
- We are afraid that nobody will believe us.
- We are afraid that then the other will hurt us or hurt himself/herself.
- We don't want the relationship to end.
- We hope that he/she will change or he/she has promised to change.
- We think that nobody will be able to help us.
Because of all these difficulties, many young people in this situation feel:
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All these feelings are natural and experienced by many victims. Do not forget that it is possible to overcome them.
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