New awareness campaign highlights impact of verbal abuse

The ‘Killing me Softly with his Words’ poster campaign is designed to raise awareness of verbal abuse which entails name-calling, insults, humiliation, intimidation, threatening comments and mind games.

“As the poster shows, verbal abuse can in effect slowly deaden someone from the inside out,” said Rachel Mullen, chairperson of Sonas Housing. “If a woman is experiencing physical abuse she can name what is happening and there are bruises and scars to prove it. Verbal abuse can have a hugely debilitating effect emotionally and psychologically but because of the lack of tangible evidence it can be harder for women to name it or to show its impact. No one goes to A&E because they have been humiliated and ridiculed and it’s difficult to file a complaint to the guards to say that your partner isolates you from your friends.”

“It is important for victims of domestic violence to recognise verbal abuse as a part of the overall pattern of abuse they are experiencing” said Deirdre Murphy, manager of Meath Women’s Refuge. “Women living with controlling partners may have internalised a lot of the verbal abuse and believe they are the problem because they have been continually told that by their abusive partner. What makes it even more difficult to recognise is that often an abusive perpetrator may quickly switch between verbally abusive and more caring behaviour which means the woman is often unsure of what to expect and continually off-balance.”

The ad, produced with funding from Cosc, the national office on domestic and sexual violence, will feature in women’s washrooms in shopping centres, pubs and community centres.