I wasn’t strong enough inside

Many times, teens feel so overpowered and controlled in abusive relationships that they can’t leave. It takes support from friends and family to help.
Amanda Kramer was no different. “I knew what was going on, I knew it, but it wasn’t strong enough in me to get rid of it,” she says. “I wasn’t strong enough inside.”
Her then-boyfriend was jealous and controlling. He told her if she ever left him, he would kill himself.
She didn’t want to see him in pain. “I told him, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ and he told me everything was my fault and that everything was never gonna be okay - but as long as we were together [he wouldn’t kill himself]. And so I went back.”

And the victims don’t always know that the abuse is not their fault.
“It’s very, very important to say, ‘I’m concerned for your safety, you’re not alone, you’re not the only person dealing with this kind of thing, and you don’t deserve to be treated like this’,” explains Frndak.
That’s the message to the girls And, she says, that’s just the beginning.

Finally, she says, parents need to do whatever it takes to keep their girls safe.