Television station W T R F (covering the areas of Wheeling, West Virginia, and Steubenville, Ohio), reported on May 23, 2006, that there are definite signs that an abuser -- whether past behavior has been just emotional abuse or actual physical abuse -- has moved to the stage where the abusive relationship may become lethal (Webster's dictionary: "causing death").
Quoted from the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence:
The common signs of a batterer are: overly jealous, tries to isolate their victim, uses verbal put downs and controls the money.
More importantly, signs which indicate that one day the abuse may turn into homicide are:
Your abuser attempting to strangle you (They might be successful next time.)
Waiving or threatening with weapons (The next step is to actually use the weapon.)
Talking about killing you or about killing themselves (They may really do it.)
Showing signs of depression (Many people, men especially, act out their feelings. Hopelessness can push a person over the edge to do something they wouldn't normally do.)
Ownership of you, along with anxiety or violence about separating from you. (The old "If I can't have you, no one can have you.")
As has been mentioned on this blog before, the first two weeks after the separation from an abuser is the most dangerous time for the victim and her/his children.
If you're scared and in trouble with an abuser, call the National Domestic Violence hotline -- 1 - 800 - 799 - S A F E (7233). Quoted on their web site today (www.ndvh.org) is the statistic that 10 Murder-Suicides Occur Each Week in America.
Be careful, friends. Statistics show that 25 per cent of the domestic violence murders of women are witnessed by their children.
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