Abstract
“How do you cope with the knowledge that this is your fault? That your misery and guilt were caused by your own hand? How do you face the fact that you’ve made this happen… again? What do you do?” Coping walks the reader through the first two stages of the cycle of abuse (tension and incident), developed by Lenore E. Walker, from the perspective of the victim. Domestic violence occurs in the lifetime of one in every four women. The writer of this piece was one of the twenty-five percent. This piece was written in a stream of consciousness format, utilizing real-life events and true thoughts the writer experienced while facing her abuser. This piece has strong content of sexual violence, but reflects on the inner struggle victims face with their abusers to free themselves, while still keeping the peace in the relationship. The main focus of this piece is to walk the reader through a series of events that occurred over two weeks, while giving insight to the broken, panicked though process one faces when dealing with their abuser, and the harmful effects domestic violence can have on its victims. The final result of this narrative is a cohesive piece of writing that provides resolution for the victim and the reader through reflection, acknowledgement, discussion, and most importantly, time.
