Survivors and advocates strive to break cycle of domestic abuse for future generations

Looking back, Monique Green said there were early signs that the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her former partner had also affected their children.

“When my ex-husband would leave the home, there was a lot of happiness, and we were able to do many things,” she said. “But when the children recognized it was time for him to come home from work, it was, ‘Let's scurry and put everything in place,’ because anything that we might do could tip his anger.”

Green said that healing from abuse is a never-ending process, but that group counseling with her son and daughter has been helpful in processing what they went through.

“Many times adult children don't realize until later that they suffer emotional abuse — that they are secondary survivors of domestic violence,” she said.