A third of assault cases take place in the home‚ but the journey to help is sometimes just as painful.TimesLIVE‚ along with the Gauteng Provincial Legislature‚ visited shelters for abused women‚ where they met two women who told the stories of abuse at the hands of their partners.One of the women spoke about her difficult journey to get assistance and‚ when she reported the incident‚ of having to endure police ridicule at a video recording of her being beaten by her husband. “They see the footage of when my husband was hitting me‚ inside the police station and the police were laughing. I was looking like a stupid‚” she said.Another woman spoke about how her relationship with her partner changed over time as he became more emotionally controlling.“I went through anger and resentment. Even blaming myself. I think that’s what happens with abuse; you feel like ‘I also contributed’‚” she said.Both women spoke about how their partners would apologise after each incident of abuse‚ but both said they also blamed themselves for the abuse.Of the assaults that took place in the home‚ 44% were perpetrated by a spouse or lover‚ 35% by a person known to the victim and 21% by a stranger. The figure is based on a survey‚ “Exploring Contact Crimes in SA”‚ which was conducted by the Statistician-General in conjunction with the SAPS and based on a sample of approximately 30 000 households. – TMG Digital..