International Women's Day - Singular Insanity

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.

Tomorrow I honour the work of the Suffragettes, who rallied for my rights so many years ago. I celebrate the success of women across the globe, and reflect on the inequities still to be addressed.

One of the areas of women’s rights that still requires attention is family violence. Whilst men are not immune from being abused, in the vast majority of cases it is women and children affected.

I have spoken before about physical abuse. But for those who make it out, the bruises do fade. Bones eventually heal. But what about the psychological abuse? The fear. The mistrust. The self-doubt. You can’t point to it and say “it hurts”. A doctor can’t put it in a cast and tell you to rest. The healing can only be done with therapy and time. And sometimes, even after all that, we are still scarred. It can be one of the hardest wounds to heal.

I’d like you all to meet Dorothy. You know what I like about her? She’s not a victim. She’s a survivor. Some people might not really see much difference between the two words but to me they are as different as chalk and cheese;

Apples and oranges;

Summer and winter;

Letting someone own you versus moving on, fighting back, recovering and flipping the bird.

Dorothy blogs at Singular Insanity where she writes about her recovery from narcissistic abuse. By her own admission, her blog is graphic and at times disturbing. But you know what? Abuse is graphic and disturbing.

So tomorrow, I honour the women around the world like Dorothy who are survivors. The ones who are brave enough to speak out, and the ones who are suffering in silence. I hope you will too.

Posted with permission

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