One in ten women in France falls victim to violence in her marital life every year, while three women lose their lives to it every 15 days. 25% of crimes in Europe involve the abuse of women by their partners. Domestic violence does not discriminate. According to recent research, it mainly affects people of average and higher socioeconomic status (Maryse Jaspard's study, 2000, in France).
Physical violence in a relationship does not appear overnight. There is a progression of aggressive behavior and intimidation long before it. The worst form of violence is covert violence. And if women do not "leave" such a relationship, it is because they are trapped in a pattern of psychological abuse.
Awareness of the mechanism of this abuse is the first and most essential step towards liberation from it.
Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and psychotherapist Marie-France Hirigoyen, based on numerous testimonies and real-life examples, examines the deeper causes of violence within a couple.
"The Abused Woman" is an extremely valuable book for everyone, as it identifies the roots and characteristics of a phenomenon-plague of our time, from the very first signs of psychological violence long before the manifestation of physical violence itself.