ABSTRACT
Shelly is in her mid-20s. A college graduate, she currently works in a job supporting victims of domestic violence, which is especially meaningful work for her since she herself is a survivor of past abusive relationships. Shelly describes the abuse she experienced with an ex-boyfriend as follows:
“He would make me tell him I loved him. He would start play fighting with me, then hit harder and harder until I begged him to stop. He threw things at me and threatened to push me down stairs if I wouldn’t say everything he asked. He had other girlfriends and would flaunt them around me, and if I complained, he would put his hands around my throat and tell me I was his. I was a virgin at the time, and he kept threatening me saying if I didn’t ‘give it up’ he would take it from me.”
