Domestic Violence is a Women's Health Issue Too

Over the past few years, we've had visible mainstream representation of what domestic violence truly looks like. Perhaps most notably, the movie It Ends With Us tapped in to the nuance of what a violent relationship can look like. Unlike so many other portrayals, which often oversimplify interpersonal violence in relationships, this one showed us shades. In doing that, it helped other women recognize pieces of their own stories.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and when it comes to awareness around this issue, it isn't enough to just acknowledge that it exists. It's also important that we talk about how it shows up.

I recently worked on an article about former tradwives. I spoke with multiple women who escaped from "traditional" marriages, and they all reported one thing: In each situation, there was abuse...and that abuse absolutely affected their health. All the women I interviewed reported mental health issues (especially postpartum depression) autoimmune diseases, and/or the health effects of social isolation.

I think it's important that we think about domestic violence this way — it's not just a relationship issue, it's a health issue, one that primarily affects women and can quite literally be fatal.

Like so many other women's health issues, women are gaslit when it comes to domestic violence. They're made to feel like they are the crazy ones. When they open up about their experiences, of they hear some version of "are you sure? He seems so great" — which lands a lot like "it's probably just in your head, discomfort is normal", which is something women so often hear in medical settings.

The important of awareness — real, nuanced, honest awareness that digs into all the ways domestic violence can present — can't be overstated. Because it isn't just about bringing awareness to the fact that domestic violence exists, it's about giving women the tools to identify it within their own homes, or even among other people in their life.