Stop Signs: Recognizing, Avoiding, and Escaping Abusive Relationships

Most abusers display warning signs that intelligent women miss—mostly because the majority of women have not been trained to recognize them. In this groundbreaking book, Lynn Fairweather—an expert in the field of intimate partner violence response and prevention—provides women with the information they need to recognize dangerous men before they become victims of abuse.

Educational and empowering, Stop Signs exposes the discernable attributes, tactics, and deterrents of abusers, arming women with the tools they need to choose a safe and loving partner. In the first section, Fairweather familiarizes readers with the topic of intimate partner violence and explains how to develop the combination of self-esteem, preparation, and assertive awareness that can protect women from involvement with abusive individuals; in the second section, she explores the minds of abusers, explaining what visible signs of danger are present in their attitudes and actions; and in the last section, she provides women with effective strategies for safe extraction should they find themselves involved with an abuser.

A go-to manual for women everywhere, Stop Signs contains the life-saving information needed by anyone who is living with abuse, knows someone who is, or wishes to avoid becoming involved in a potentially life-threatening relationship.

Since 1992, Lynn Fairweather has dedicated her professional life to intimate partner violence response and prevention. She has received multiple awards and commendations for her work in criminal justice, university, non-profit, and psychiatric settings. Currently, she operates Presage Consulting and Training, the only firm in America that focuses solely on reduction of intimate partner homicide through threat assessment and management. She has provided hundreds of specialized trainings and consultations for law enforcement, advocates, medical personnel, and case managers on assessing and managing high lethality domestic violence cases.

Fairweather's threat assessment background features training under programs such as Homeland Securitys Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and Gavin de Beckers Advanced Academy. She is on the board of directors for The Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and has written several victim resource guides, one of which is used by the Oregon Department of Human Services as their official domestic violence guide. She has also written curriculum for and facilitated abuse survivor support groups and batterer intervention programs.

Fairweather holds a bachelors degree in social science and a masters degree in social work, and has served in shelters, law enforcement units, and courtrooms, giving her a great deal of insight into the tactics of batterers and the unique challenges that their victims face. As a survivor of a high lethality abusive relationship herself, she approaches each case with profound empathy and hope. It is this familiarity that allows her to speak to women from a place of understanding, without condescension or indifference, regarding situations not many people can truly comprehend.