Innocent until proven guilty is good for crime but NOT good for emotional abuse. Don’t put the burden of proof on the victim. That’s not right. 

If a victim comes up to you and says they are emotionally abused, assume the accused is guilty until proven innocent. Put in work, effort, time, to help that victim talk through the experience. Set the expectation that they will struggle to put into words their experiences, and it is likely too horrible for them to even imagine, which is why they cannot communicate it. Furthermore, the mind’s self defense mechanisms will use denial or memory loss to erase the abusive memories from their mind. So it takes a lot of careful tact and support and an extremely psychologically safe space for them to be able to confront calmly their abuse and put it into words. Help them do this. Don’t let the abuser get away.

Help the victims, don’t victim blame.

#mentalhealth #reduceTheStigma