Domestic perpetrators don’t need physical violence to maintain their power – they only have to make their victims believe they are capable of it. This threat is particularly effective, wrote Herman, when it is directed towards loved ones: ‘Battered women, for example, frequently report that their abuser has threatened to kill their children, their parents, or any friends who harbor them, should they attempt to escape.’ This atmosphere of threat is enough to ‘convince the victim that the perpetrator is omnipotent, that resistance is futile, and that her life depends upon winning his indulgence
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