How to Help a Friend Get Out of a Verbally Abusive Marriage
- 1). Support your friend in every way you can. Listen to her if she needs someone to talk to about her problems. Offer her a place to stay if she feels unsafe or asks to stay with you.
- 2). Talk to your friend about the problems you see within her relationship. Point out the issues matter-of-factly and without judgment. People in abusive relationships tend to make excuses and deny problems exist. Passing judgment or being accusatory will be counterproductive to helping your friend.
- 3). Offer to speak to her spouse on her behalf or with her. People in a verbally abusive relationship will need support and help to confront the problem. You could talk to her spouse about the problems you see (again, in matter-of-fact way and without judgment). Or you can sit down and act as a mediator if you feel comfortable and both parties are in agreement.
- 4). Refer your friend to a counselor or organization that specializes in abusive relationships. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is a resource that can assist your friend in finding the strength and means to leave an abusive relationship and get her life back on track.
- 5). Call the police if you feel your friend and her children are in immediate danger of the abuse turning physical. Violence tends to escalate and could turn deadly if an intervention does not occur.