I’m not an expert in domestic violence and abuse. I would recommend victims get professional help. What I would never tell a domestic violence or abuse victim is “If [you] can refind those reasons and get back to why [you] got married in the first place it might help.” That kind of advice puts the onus on the victim and likely re-victimizes them.
Representative Don Pridemore recently said his advice to domestic violence and abuse victims is to avoid divorce and “[if] they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help.” I’d like to think this statement was a mistake – a not-well-thought-out comment on abusive relationships that Pridemore regrets.
Don Pridemore is Chairman of the Children and Families Committee in the State Assembly and his words as a public figure hold weight. Those words, as they stand now, are cruel, callous and, based on professional opinion (see link above), wrong-headed. Wisconsin, Pridemore’s constituents and most importantly victims of marital violence and abuse deserve an immediate and public retraction and apology.