Domestic Violence: the woman on the tightrope

In her book Dragon Slippers Rosalind B Penfold used the metaphor of a woman on a tightrope to portray the issues women face when deciding to leave domestic violence and to recognise that the journey after leaving is fraught with challenges.

A Social Work colleague and myself later redrew the metaphor and added to it by including a child and “the invisible man” (to represent the perpetrator), and we have both used this metaphor extensively with our clients.  I have also used it to devise a group program for the Women’s Support Group I was facilitating at the time.

How the metaphor can be used

The metaphor is useful to use as a whole in dialogue  with women living with domestic violence or with those who have recently left their partners.

Conversations can be had about:

• How it felt to live with the violence
• The impact on the children
• Where they are in relation to the tightrope now
• Honouring the past and the times that the tightrope may have been too unstable, or the storm clouds too severe, causing them to return to their partner
• The things they are carrying in their backpack
• Their picture of their desired future -- what the tree represents
• The impact of the "invisible man" on their lives now
• What protective factors are represented by the helmet
• And any other issues that the metaphor suggests

The metaphor

Expanding on the metaphor

In subsequent blogs I will draw on the group sessions I devised, to focus on particular aspects of the journey across the tightrope. Stay tuned!