[Domestic violence is] a carefully laid physical, financial and psychological trap.
Leslie Morgan SteinerWe should hold abusers — and no one else — responsible for the damage they inflict.
Leslie Morgan SteinerThe question, 'Why does she stay?' is code for some people for, 'It's her fault for staying,' as if [domestic violence] victims intentionally choose to fall in love with men intent upon destroying us.
Leslie Morgan SteinerFamily violence is a criminal act; perpetrators, while often former victims themselves, need to accept culpability.
Leslie Morgan SteinerIf there is one thing the psychic taught me, it's that people and events are rarely who and what we think they are. They are more meaningful, more worth our attention-part of some finely choreographed, eternal dance that we would be wise to bow down before in gratitude and humility
Leslie Morgan SteinerI did not know that the first step in any domestic violence relationship is to seduce and charm the victim. I also did not know that the second step is to isolate the victim. The next step in the domestic violence pattern is to introduce the threat of violence and see how she reacts. We victims know something you [non-victims] usually don't. It's incredibly dangerous to leave an abuser, because the final step in the domestic violence pattern is to 'kill her'. Over 70% of domestic violence murders happens after the victim has ended the relationship.
Leslie Morgan Steiner