I Know Why She Stayed

Did You Know? If your partner tries to take control over where you can go, who you can see, what you can wear, and when you can eat and sleep, you are abused. If your partner threatens your well-being by controlling your basic needs such as medical services, food, housing, and access to various methods of communication, you are abused. Abuse can come in many different forms. But nobody should control you to the point where they keep you from doing things you enjoy, and they certainly shouldn’t control your access to your needs. THAT IS ABUSE. And calling it out is essential. #iknowwhyshestayed

Control is abuse. Abuse comes in many forms. Staying informed is essential.

#booksky

Yep--the stranger leaps out of the bushes is a way to ignore how in a way it takes a village to rape a person, all the enablers, excusers, cover-up aides, defense lawyers, NDA laws, indifferent legal system, clueless journalists treating each act as isolated rather than part of a pattern....

Thank you so much for this article.

She gets it. This is an epidemic.

Our Director of Operations, @justinemanzano.bsky.social
was featured in Bold Journey, talking about how musical theatre helped her build confidence, the many projects the writer/editor/advocate has going on, and the skills that have helped her in her journey.

boldjourney.com/meet-justine...

Have you signed up for our newsletter? We’re launching a new version of our official newsletter on August 1st featuring, among other tidbits, our personal recipe for a self-care kit. iknowwhyshestayed.org/get-started/

YouTube video by I Know Why She Stayed Initiative Global Call to Action delivered at H&F Writers' Festival 7.19.2025

I Know Why She Stayed and Authors Against Abuse co-founder Kasey Rogers delivered the opening speech at the H&F Writers' Festival on 7.19.2025. This speech is a call to action to join our mission. If we work together, we can make a difference in ending domestic abuse globally.

youtu.be/iae68l2dqSs

And through insults, blame shifting, and manipulation, they make you lose sense in your own sense of self. 

This is why the first step in rebuilding yourself after an abusive relationship needs to be about rebuilding your love, your belief, and your trust in yourself.
(2/2)

One of the most insidious things an abuser does is force you to lose trust in yourself. Through isolation and their own behavior, they make you lose trust in your own judgment. Through gaslighting, they make you lose trust in your understanding of reality. (1/2)

On July 19th, co-founder Kasey Rogers will be one of the opening speakers at @hfwritersfest in the UK, there with a call to action to our arts and author community. That’s the kickoff to a full day of live writing events! www.handfwritersfestival.co.uk

Our co-founder @kjharrowick.bsky.social
was featured in Bold Journey Magazine, talking about life, finding her way through trauma with salsa, chickens, dragons, and working on I Know What She Stayed. 

boldjourney.com/meet-k-j-har...

Come hang out with our co-founders @kaseyrogers.bsky.social & @kjharrowick.bsky.social along w/ Director of Operations @justinemanzano.bsky.social ! We’ll be talking about writing to heal at this year’s @writehive.bsky.social
Conference on Sunday at 1pm ET. Sign up at writehivecon.org to join!

The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds.

Let's go from 785 to 800 donations -- chip in $5,$10, $25, $50 or more!

@jaybird54.bsky.social
@bluerichierich.bsky.social
@erosen1.bsky.social
@robe87.bsky.social
@conormcl2025.bsky.social
@boxdonkey17.bsky.social
@kodiak149.bsky.social
@earthbound420.bsky.social
@dunnee496.bsky.social

Would love to see it enforced properly!

We must keep working until the US does. On a federal level.

Intimidation is how they force you into situations you don’t want to be in, and it’s one of the ways they insure you stay.
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#abuse #domesticviolence #emotionalabuse #manipulation
#coercivecontrol #abuseawareness #abusesurvivor #domesticabuse
#iknowwhyshestayed #intimidation #ipv

On Sale Now! Smashwords Only! Never Say Never: 99 cents The Order of the Key: Free The Skeleton Key: 50% off Keys of the Dawn: 50%

Now is your best chance to find my entire ebook collection for a promotional price at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! Find my books and many more at www.smashwords.com/shelves/prom... all month! #SWSale2025 #Smashwords
#bookstagramfeature #authorlife

Who Says You Can't Heal?: Overcoming and Thriving After Sexual Assault Amazon.com: Who Says You Can't Heal?: Overcoming and Thriving After Sexual Assault eBook : McKenzie, Marie: Kindle Store

It’s never too late to rebuild and thrive anew. Marie is incredibly insightful and supportive, and is truly the perfect person to provide trauma-informed guidance. Definitely going on our Resource List! (2/2)

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFWNHPSW

Our supporter and friend, sexual assault survivor, nurse and coach, Marie McKenzie has just released a powerful new book, Who Says You Can’t Heal?: Overcoming and Thriving After Sexual Assault. This is a must read for all survivors.

(1/2)

If you’re at the American Library Association’s annual convention at the Philadelphia Convention Center this weekend, come see Justine and Kasey at Booth #1565 and talk about our program and why libraries are so important to our cause.

🚨Please share 🚨please share.. Missing 13 year old from #Winnipeg #Manitoba #Canada missing since June 19th. #MMIW #MMIWG #EveryChildMatters #NoMoreStolenSisters #Pinks

www.aboriginalalert.ca/missingperso...

This is going to happen more and more and scare people out of reporting. They will have blood on their hands.

We are looking for participants to help us document the effect of our program on victims/survivors of financial abuse and/or domestic abuse. The study would require reading our memoir and its companion Reader’s Guide, and answering a questionnaire. Please DM if you are interested in participating!

At our April event, the fabulous @lauren_clover performed “He’s Hurting Me,” originally by Maria Mena. It was a heartbreakingly compelling performance that made all of us survivors there feel seen.

#domesticviolence

This is how they maintain control. After all, who is the victim without the abuser?

This is one of the many challenges a victim encounters when attempting to leave their abuser. (2/2)

By slowly and insidiously throwing jabs at your self-esteem, the abuser convinces their victim of their inability to succeed, or even survive, without them. This is how they keep them under their thumb and keep them from leaving. (1/2)

June is PTSD awareness month, and we’d like to discuss C-PTSD today. C-PTSD or complex post-traumatic stress disorder is very prominent among survivors.
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#ptsdawareness #ptsd #cptsd
#cptsdrecovery #cptsdawareness #cbttherapy #betrayal
#ptsdawarenessmonth #familydomesticviolence

The Web of Abuse: A Personal Account Drawing from her 21-year experience in an abusive marriage, combined with research and reflection, author Theresa Werba intricately describes the suffocating and enmeshed web of abuse.

Drawing from her 21-year experience of #domesticabuse, combined with research and reflection, author Theresa Werba intricately describes the suffocating and enmeshed web of abuse.

shadowsofcontrol.com/storie...