Allison Crowe's Blog on Stigma for the Stop Abuse Campaign

See the Triumph Co-Founder Allison Crowe wrote a guest blog for the Stop Abuse Campaign Today, which is excerpted below.

*************************

Blame
Shame
Discrimination
Loss of Status
Loss of
Power
Secrecy

Do these words sound familiar? I hope not.

Unfortunately, though they are all too familiar for many survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). These are the words that make up stigma – the stigma that survivors feel from others and from themselves. The stigma that comes from the friend down the street, or attorney who is supposed to be defending a survivor in court, or even from the shelter staff member when one finally decides to leave an abusive relationship.

As much as we hate to believe that professionals in power hold some of the same stigmas that survivors face in their personal lives, there is research that suggests that stigma can be found where we least expect it – from professionals. Why, might you ask, would a professional harbor some of the same negative attitudes? Is it burn-out, feelings of helplessness, misunderstandings? Or is it a lack of formalized training and education about Intimate Partner Violence? Actually, it’s all of this that literature supports as reasons why professionals might have stigma towards their clients.

For survivors of Intimate Partner Violence, when stigma comes from those in power it is incredibly damaging. For many, thoughts such as, “Maybe I do deserve it, Maybe I should have left sooner, Maybe it IS my fault, Maybe I don’t deserve services” might surface.

********************************

To read the rest of Allison's blog, including quotes from survivors in our research study on stigma, IPV, and professionals, please visit the Stop Abuse Campaign site.