“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
~ Proverbs 31:8, 9

To live with chronic abuse is to live in silence, to be shut up. The voice of one so abused has been crushed and made inarticulate by intense fear, then is further silenced by the deafness of others. Recovery involves a reversal of the experience of trauma.