Growing up, I attended a Catholic all-girls high school. Obviously, feminism was taught to the highest extent but there were a few particular things I learned from my private school days that stuck with me the most. At my freshman convocation, the priest who was blessing us told us a story of how he had recently met a girl whose boyfriend of three months had "dumped" her. His response was, “You don’t dump a diamond; you lose a diamond.” Naturally, all of the girls in the audience went ballistic over the sweetness and sincerity in his voice, but I doubt we recognized then the importance of this statement in our own realities. Every girl is a diamond and thus, every girl should be treated like one.

The #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou campaign on social media highlights a very important message. It reminds us women that in addition to physical harm, there are other forms of abuse such as mental or emotional. It also shows us how sometimes, mental and emotional abuse can be much worse than physical. Emotional abuse can hurt just as much, but there are no exterior scars revealing the past hurt to outsiders at first glance. It is incredibly easy to fake a smile and pretend everything is okay but in reality, some girls may be in extreme distress due to abuse from their significant other, the one who is supposed to love them unconditionally and treat them like they are the most important person in the world.

Although physical abuse awareness is imperative, it is also critical to know the signs of a woman suffering from emotional abuse. The list of emotional/mental abuse warning signs is extensive. In the spirit of this campaign and the list of signs, I decided to make some of my own #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou examples.

Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but he calls you fat. I watched one of my friends experience this abuse firsthand from her boyfriend and believe me when I say that I was not amused even though he thought it was funny. I reminded her that she is beautiful and curvy, not fat. He should be thankful to have a girlfriend who has some curves to her body.

Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but he constantly checks your phone and yells about the people you text, especially other boys. This one can be very detrimental to a girl’s emotional health and it is something I've experienced personally. You feel like you have to delete every message between you and a guy friend because even just a simple “hello” from another man will set him off. You could be doing absolutely nothing wrong and it will still upset him. Rather, he should be thankful that you have guy friends who can give you advice on presents for your boyfriend's birthday or fun date ideas.

Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but that is never the kind of love you deserve. You deserve a guy who will put up his phone at dinner simply because he loves hearing your thoughts on the world. You deserve a guy who looks at you and only you, and doesn’t make you feel insecure about anything, especially not other girls. You deserve a man, not a boy. A man would never hit you or call you names or devalue your self-worth. This is exactly why #MaybeHeDoesntHisYou should not be taken lightly. It has a very important message that you are worth so much more than an abusive significant other will let you believe. Ladies, never settle. Wait for a guy to rise to the occasion and treat you right because there is no other way you should be treated. Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but he doesn’t deserve you.