This week’s Modern Love column is called “The View From the Victim Room.”

This week’s Modern Love column is called “The View From the Victim Room.”

Everyone is gentle. The price of admission is abuse. In this court, your ex is referred to as the Respondent. I was there because my ex beat me. If anyone had asked me before my beating if I would defend myself when attacked, I would have said yes, of course I would.

Not an easy read, but it’s beautifully written, and pieces like this are crucial: raw, startling, sensate reminders that these statistics translate not just to isolated incidents but to years and lifetimes spent negotiating the grip of trauma.