A GOOD BEATING: AN EVERYDAY STORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Every third day, a woman in Germany is murdered by her partner. Every third woman experiences domestic violence. One of these women is Antje Joel. She met her husband when she was 16. The physical abuse began when they’d been together for only a few months. Then her parents say something she will later hear often from many different people: “It’s your own fault.” She believes it for years and takes him back, again and again. 

Here, Joel tells her own story, explaining why she initially didn’t leave her husband and recounting how she finally managed to break free from him. Yet she also broadens the focus of this important and timely book beyond her own experiences, analysing the wider social context.