22/05/2026
AND YOU CALL YOURSELF 'A MAN'!
Domestic abuse is not always bruises and broken bones. Sometimes it is humiliation, control, intimidation and degrading someone so openly that those around them are left shocked and uncomfortable. What I witnessed this morning in Strabane was disgraceful.
Sitting in a café, watching a man speak to his partner with such disrespect, venom and arrogance in front of their child and members of the public was genuinely disturbing. Barking orders, belittling her and even telling her to “shut up” as if she were beneath him. It was ugly, ignorant and completely unacceptable.
And here is the frightening part, if that is the behaviour you are comfortable displaying publicly, in front of strangers, then one can only imagine the atmosphere behind closed doors. Nobody who truly respects or loves their partner speaks to them like dirt. Nobody with an ounce of decency humiliates the mother of their child in public for everyone to witness.
Men who behave this way need to understand something very clearly: controlling, degrading and intimidating women does not make you strong. It makes you weak, insecure and pathetic. Real men do not bully their partners. Real men do not create fear, tension and embarrassment around their families. Real men certainly do not model that behaviour in front of children who are then left believing this toxicity is normal.
And let’s talk about the child in this situation. Children absorb everything. Every insult, every aggressive tone, every humiliating comment. They carry it with them. They either grow up fearing relationships or repeating the same poisonous behaviour themselves. Domestic abuse does not only damage partners, it damages entire families and generations.
To anyone experiencing this kind of treatment: you do not deserve it, you should never normalise it, and you should never be made feel small by someone who claims to care about you. Respect costs nothing. Basic decency costs nothing.
As a society we need to stop excusing this behaviour as “just the way he is” or “a bad temper.” No. It is abusive, intimidating and unacceptable. Publicly humiliating your partner is not banter, stress or masculinity. It is a glaring reflection of your own character, or lack of it.