On this first episode of the series we call #SurvivorStories, we introduce the hashtags #abusertactics, #signsofabuse and #upstandertips to shed light on the multitude of ways in which abuse, power and control, or coercive control dynamics can manifest in a relationship.  Our goal is to help develop a cultural literacy around recognizing abuse of power.

A common vocabulary and language can help all of us act more effectively and more responsibly when survivors in our lives reveal themselves to us.  By understanding better the ways in which oppression is manifest in personal relationships, we can better recognize it when it shows up in our schools, in our workplaces, in our churches, in our popular culture and news, and in the rhetoric and practices that come from our elected officials and in law and in policy.

If we connect the dots, we can see the intersectionality and roots of all oppression, linked.  We can better recognize it in ourselves.  It will help us better parents, supervisors, daughters, sons, friends, and neighbors.  Hopefully, this greater awareness will create more compassion, more understanding, and deeper connectedness in our relationships.  It will, in turn, move us further into the light.  We will, then, become the solutions that we seek.