10 signs that characterize battered women

Abuse and gender-based violence leave an imprint on the psychology of the victims.

Abuse and gender-based violence have become two increasingly visible concepts in politics, health and, of course, also in the world of psychology.

This, however, contrasts with the fact that many women are so afraid of the reprisals they might suffer for asking for help that they often do not contact the authorities that can provide them with protection, so that the abuser continues to do so.

This is one of the indications that gender-based violence is not an individual problem, but a social one, and that it must be addressed collectively by developing, among other things, a sensitivity to detect cases of mistreatment. However, detecting the signs that define battered women is not always easy.

Characteristic signs of battered women

Knowing how to recognize the characteristics of battered women is very important to make possible the prevention of future attacks. These signs of abuse will help you to detect cases in which it may be necessary to ask for help. Not every one of them is true in every case of abuse, but they are useful as guiding criteria.

1. They react defensively with ease

People who have been abused on an ongoing basis tend to startle or adopt a defensive posture. startle or adopt a defensive posture quickly when they notice someone quickly when they notice that someone wants to touch them unexpectedly.

Thus, moving their arm to touch their shoulder or brushing a brush out of their hair may cause them to show signs of fear such as bringing their arms close to their body, hiding their neck by lowering their chin or putting a shoulder between them and the other person, all in a quick, automatic movement.

2. Often show explicit submission

Battered women embrace the habit of being submissive to the person attacking them, but often also adopt this style of behavior with "authority figures". This usually means that they rarely talk back to themand in some cases they even avoid eye contact by keeping their gaze down.

3. They have low self-esteem

Battered women have been receiving psychological attacks aimed at undermining their self-esteem. That is why many times they will manifest beliefs related to their inability to perform relatively simple tasks, and they will tend to distrust their own point of view. This last phenomenon, by the way, is used by abusers who use a method of abuse called Gaslighting.

4. You show signs of stress

Another of the typical signs of abused women is that in many cases their stress levels remain high for a long time. This is reflected in fatigue, sleep problems, accelerated breathing and body postures that denote and body postures that denote Muscle stiffness.

5. Mistrustful attitude

Many battered women are forced to withhold much information about their lives out of sheer fear. information about their lives out of sheer fear.This causes them to avoid situations in which they need to talk about themselves. This may even occur in their relationships with friends and family.

6. They show little skin

Battered women who have been physically abused tend to adopt an appearance that allows them to hide bruises, bruises to adopt an appearance that allows them to conceal bruises and bruises.. For example, heavy make-up, long sleeves and clothes without cleavage.

7. They take the blame easily

When something goes wrong, battered women tend to assume that the responsibility has been theirs, even when there is a lack of information about what has happened and a certain ambiguity is generated. This is one of the signs of their lack of self-esteem, and it is also a protective mechanism to avoid aggravating the problem, since in situations of constant abuse the abuser systematically blames the abused woman and does not want to be questioned. and does not want to be questioned.

8. They take "the long way" to avoid reaching the place of abuse.

One of the indicators that signal the presence of a battered woman is that, if they can, they try to "kill time" with seemingly anodyne activities to delay their arrival at a place where the abuser is waiting. This involves artificially artificially prolonging conversations with friends, taking walks without enjoying them, etc.etc.

9. They anticipate the abuser's anger and avoid certain questions.

Another sign that indicates possible abuse is the avoidance of asking the abuser certain questions in anticipation of his or her anger. This makes communication between the two of them not very fluid, full of silences and moments in which the woman hesitates.

In other words, one of the characteristic signs of battered women is a lack of assertiveness. lack of assertiveness.

10. They are easily embarrassed

Low self-esteem also tends to make it easier to be embarrassed with relative ease. For example, something as simple as not hearing a question correctly can cause signs of blushing to appear on the face. This is because victims of abuse learn that people have very high standards, and that to deviate from those standards of perfection is "not normal". that it is "not normal" to deviate from these standards of perfection..