Learned helplessness

Learned helplessness is the conditioning of a victim by their abuser to keep them controlled and imprisoned in the abusive relationship. It starts with the abuser slowly eroding the person-hood of the victim through coercive control measures, such as the use manipulation and brainwashing techniques; think gaslighting, which is solely intended to evade accountability on part of the batterer and distort the victims sense of reality. This conditioning instills in the victim that their abuser is all powerful and any attempts by the victim to reclaim their own power and control over their person are met with further and escalating abuse as punishment.

The power and control of the batterer is reinforced in the victim when family and friends, bystanders and witnesses, all turn a blind eye to what the victim is experiencing. When calls for help are met with indifference, blame, and suspicion of the victim by law enforcement or the system as a whole. The victim is conditioned, they learn, that their abuser holds all the cards, they wield all of the power because nobody is ever going to believe them, and even if they do their batterer will not face any consequences for their abuse. The victim is helpless and powerless against their abuser. Even in the face of mounted evidence of their abuse; essentially proving that their batterer is all powerful in the eyes of the victim. Speaking out only leads to greater consequences and abuse of the victim because the actions of everyone previously mentioned, or rather their lack of action, serves to only further embolden the batterer in their abuse; reinforcing the batterers own delusion that they are untouchable.