A commentary by an assistant manager at the Cridge Centre for the Family who deals with ­intimate partner violence and is a brain-injury co-ordinator.

Maybe things start as typical bickering among couples, or maybe the rage blows up out of nowhere. The aggressor slaps, pushes and punches before grabbing their partner around the neck, squeezing tight as they gasp for air.

And in that moment, a life just might change forever. Restricted blood flow to the brain caused by strangling leads to a brain injury. The “invisible” injury may go unrecognized by the person who has been hurt, and likely undiagnosed. But its impact will play out on their lives in countless destructive ways.

The Cridge Centre for the Family in Victoria is one of the few community organizations in Canada providing dual-stream supports for women who have experienced a brain injury as a result of intimate partner violence.

But as we were reminded during a recent training event on the impact of being strangled by your intimate partner, the 20 women we serve — and the many more who want help but who we can’t currently accommodate — are only the most obvious faces of a hidden and deeply stigmatized issue.

In Canada, intimate partner violence rates are the........

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