My Roommate | Jungkook

a topic that needs to be addressed.

Let's make something clear here, guys.

Abuse is abuse. They both weigh the same amount of pain.

You can't just suddenly say that physical abuse is worse than the other types of abuse or a little worse than those and exclude what other forms of abuse victims are suffering from. No, Brenda. I'm sick of repeating the same thing over and over again to get people to understand this. I'm also speaking on behalf of those people who have been through this. Read this carefully:

For example: emotional abuse goes hand-in-hand with mental health, psychological abuse and other types of abuse. What if someone who's experiencing emotional abuse comes to you with pent-up feelings that they are desperate to express but really it's a subtle shout for help, comfort or support, but the reply is that it's no big deal because you weren't physically abused or sexually abused. As long as there is no bruise on your body, it's no big deal, right? Well, they might go home and have suicidal thoughts because no one cares because you aren't physically abused or sexually abused. They may consider suicide or turning to drugs. You don't know how harmful that is to someone. That's where neglect is involved.

Mental abuse can also come with emotional abuse, or with physical, self-harm, financial etc. Also parental pressure. If an individual wants to share with their feelings with you as they're experiencing psychological/mental abuse, you don't hear them out and you shrug it off because they don't have any marks, bruises or scars on their body to prove they're abused. As far as you're concerned, physical abuse is greater/major than all forms of abuse. It's no big deal, right? Then you tell them, "mental abuse is nothing compared to physical/sexual. It's a minor issue. Think about people who are being physically abused, theirs is worse/a little worse than yours. Go to therapy and get it sorted out." Easier said than done. Then this individual goes home upset and devastated because they've been told that their mental abuse is insignificant compared to physical. Then they become afraid to talk to anyone again because they've just been judged. Now, later on, their mental abuse worsens. They either indulge in drugs, or self-harm themselves, then they attempt suicide/commit suicide. Why? Because their experience with mental abuse was insignificant, minor, not worse than physical and sexual abuse and that theirs is not as worse because there isn't a single mark on their body, according to people. You judged them. You made them feel unimportant and that their stories and feelings don't matter. You made them feel neglected. You don't understand how harmful and dangerous it is for those people to feel like that. No, they aren't damaged physically but they are damaged mentally. They are broken and torn.

Sexual abuse is also carries the same amount of pain. It's going against consent, invasion of privacy and makes the person feel uncomfortable. Going further than that is rape. Victims carry this painful memory of sexual abuse for a long time and it stays with them. They mentally dwell on it to the point where they can't take it any longer. Some either suicide or some either self-harm or maybe even come out stronger and become an ambassador for helping victims of rape/sexual abuse and encourages those victims to speak their stories. Sexual abuse comes along with emotional abuse when the abuser is emotionally abusing them. It also comes with mental abuse when the victim continuously thinks about that time. Again, this isn't insignificant. It can take a toll on someone.

This is where physical abuse enters and it also takes a toll on someone because of how it's affecting them. They may have bruises, whip marks, scars, burn marks etc on their bodies. They are thrown in a corner, neglected and unimportant for. It can lead to health issues, maybe extreme like illnesses/diseases.  Physical abuse isn't a "that cause is greater" issue and it definitely goes hand in hand with other types of abuse that need to be talked about: mental, emotional, sexual, discriminatory, institutional etc and even financial. All those types of abuse are important, they need to be spoken about and need to be heard.