Domestic violence has been one of the topics on the front burner on the cyberspace and in various chat groups for the past few days.

The discourse gained voice when actress Mercy Aigbe accused her husband, Lanre Gentry of beating her. Many on the social media came out with daggers drawn at Mercy saying “she must have done something to deserve it“. What absolute nonsense.

As much as the victim of abuse may have done something wrong, there is no reasonable justification for any act of domestic violence.

In domestic violence, one case varies from another, but no matter the circumstance, blaming the victim of the abuse is absolutely wrong.

On the day news broke about Aigbe’s supposed abuse, a video from four years ago went viral. In the video, Mercy denied ever being abused by her husband even though her eyes were clearly swollen.

The question on the lips of many who may have watched the video and read the news of the recent allegations of abuse will be “why did she deny being abused back then?”

The issue with abuse is that the victim most times are made to believe that they are to blame for the assault they face.

Society has made many victims of rape believe that they were raped because they wore short skirts or revealing clothes and not because the rapist had a depraved mind. Such is the case with abuse. The victim is seen or portrayed to have done or said something to warrant the abuse.

This mindset where the victim is cowered into submission and made to accept that they are to blame is absolutely wrong and must stop.

If you are or have been a victim of any form of abuse, violence or assault, do note that it’s not your fault and you are not to blame. Do not allow anyone guilt trip you into believing that you brought the abuse on yourself.