#iwasblamed one of the main reasons I want to make Violapse is to explore how the fear of being blamed strongly affects victims' behaviour when they're in an abusive relationship. The feeling of powerlessness that being abused brings is only amplified by knowing that your

credibility is the deciding factor in whether or not people will believe or support you. People are very black and white about abuse; they want to see Perfect Victims. If you spoke back against your abuser, fought back or did anything that could be considered antagonistic, you

lose your Perfect Victim status and might even be considered an abuser yourself. So the only thing you can do to protect yourself is to take the abuse without complaint. The amount of emotional labour it takes to be nice to your abuser While They're Abusing You is enough to make

you go insane. Blaming victims not only harms survivors who are seeking support but it prevents those who are currently being abused from protecting themselves. It forces them to stay in these relationships (only to later be told they deserved it because they chose to stay...)