In my early twenties, I worked for a non-profit for survivors of relationship violence and their families. Each survivor I worked with taught me something new about relationship violence and the journey to freedom from violence. In honor of all survivors of domestic violence, I wanted to share what they taught me:

1. Domestic violence can mean many different things. Relationship violence includes:

• Physical abuse including slapping, shoving, kicking, hair-pulling, choking, throwing objects, etc.,

• Sexual assault including any kind of unwanted sexual contact, including with persons u...