Just recently, a new hashtag has surfaced on all platforms of social media: #maybehedoesnthityou. Through this hashtag, people have been using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to share their insight and stories of experiences with non-physical abuse in a relationship. The hashtag was created by writer Zahira Kelly, and it has exploded all over the Internet.
The hashtag addresses the complexity of the term “abuse” and all that the term can encompass. Abuse in a relationship is not always strictly physical, and it may not be physical at all. Abuse can be verbal and emotional, and all types of abuse are harmful and toxic. This hashtag helps to raise awareness of the legitimacy of non-physical abuse, abuse that many people may not see as real or as serious as they see physical abuse to be.
By viewing, reading and sharing stories, testimonies and opinions with this hashtag, the worldwide community on the Internet forms a world that stands up to abuse. With this hashtag, we have the power to teach the warning signs of abuse so people suffering unknowingly in abusive relationships can begin to break free from their painful experiences. This hashtag also has the ability to help spread helpful resources, like the National National Coalition Against Domestic Violence for anonymous help at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).
And while the hashtag reads he doesn’t hit you, the hashtag is not meant to target victims and abusers of certain sexes. Abuse can happen to all people, regardless of sex, and this hashtag is not supposed to draw attention to abuse from people of a particular sex. The hashtag was created to make the public aware that abuse comes in forms that are not physical, and non-physical abuse is real and legitimate. Alternative gender-neutral suggestions have been mentioned in the Twitter and Facebook feeds, but the original hashtag #maybehedoesnthityou is where there is the most connection of the Internet, as it was the first to emerge.
I am grateful to live in a world where abuse is discussed instead of denied. Pain is nothing to be ashamed of, no matter your class, sex, nationality, religion or age. While pain is nothing to be ashamed of, abuse is unacceptable. Together, with the help of this hashtag, all abusive patterns can be revealed so that no one feels that they have to suffer in an abusive relationship disguised as a happy one.