ABSTRACT
When we began our research to learn about the stigma surrounding intimate partner violence, we believed that victims and survivors would likely face stigma from the people around them-such as their friends, family members, and professionals in their communities-as well as through cultural messages that are conveyed in society, such as through the media. We knew it was possible that the victims and survivors could internalize these stigmatizing experiences and messages as well. However, when we started listening to the stories of the survivors who participated in our research, we learned an important lesson: we were missing a major aspect of the stigma that impacts victims and survivors of abuse. When asked about the stigma that survivors experienced, we heard time and time again that one of the most significant sources of stigma was their perpetrators. Survivors told us that their perpetrators stigmatized them in a variety of ways and that this stigma from their perpetrators reinforced the stigma they encountered from other sources, as we will explore in the following chapters.
