Domestic violence and the “abusive monster”/“weak woman” labels

Throughout our efforts to develop safe and effective domestic violence treatment options, the Center on Violence and Recovery has remained critical of stereotypical conceptualizations related to incidents, perpetrators, and victims of domestic abuse. In the above piece, Pop Feminist blogger Naira Ruiz addresses the harms created by such conceptualizations—namely, through the pathologizing of victims who stay in abusive relationships and the minimizing of violence which is not overt and physical.