Fear, rejection, ignorance, judgment, lack of support and other factors create a situation where services and support are difficult to find and lives are being lost. It is hard to have to rely on someone in any situation. To have to rely on someone who is controlling and bases their cooperation on their interpretation of your motivations or behaviors, however, creates a doubly stressful and potentially doubly lethal situation.
Tension becomes unbearable and the effects are visible both physically and mentally.
Your well-being is compromised and many infected women cannot afford that price. Time and energy become focused on the batterer and the woman's desires, needs, ideas, feelings are then insignificant. As a woman, you do not deserve this. Making difficult choices easier As a coordinator of a new women's program at AIDS Project Los Angeles, I believe that it is the role of service-providers to recognize that without the right resources and support your choices are not as easy as they seem. I realize that it's almost ironic of me to ask you to prioritize your well-being when the results of you insisting on a condom means a battering and eventual rape.