Women don’t need marriage counselling. They need help for starting over and law enforcement that takes abuse seriously
Against expert advice, the government has created a $10 million grants program to deliver services to people (mostly women) being violently abused by their intimate partners. The conditions of the grant actually state that it is to deliver a “whole of family approach”, incorporating counselling, dispute resolution and education for violent or abusive individuals. “Whole of family” includes both the person being abused and the person abusing them.
When this was announced, a close friend shared her experience. In her mid-20s, she told her husband she was leaving. It was the second time she had tried, after her husband had refused to accept it. This time he offered a non-compromise: that they would try marriage counselling first, and if it didn’t help, she would be allowed to go. The counsellor, appointed by the church, saw the couple in her home. Each week, she was made to justify why she wanted to leave while her husband sat less than arm’s reach away.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2YZB7Io
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