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+# 🔍 Detecting Hidden Harm: Abuse Language Patterns with Tether AI
+
+Tether is a free, trauma-informed AI tool that detects emotional abuse patterns in text messages. It was built for survivors, by a survivor — blending behavioral science, NLP, and lived experience to uncover what often goes unseen.
+
+While most AI tools focus on obvious toxicity or profanity, Tether specializes in **covert abuse**:  
+Gaslighting. Guilt-tripping. Control. DARVO.  
+The things that leave no bruise, but devastate your sense of self.
+
+---
+
+## 🎯 Mission
+
+Tether exists to help people recognize patterns of harm in language — especially those trapped in emotionally abusive relationships who can't quite name what’s happening to them.
+
+This is not a commercial product. There are no ads, no accounts, and no tracking.
+
+It’s here because I lived it. And because I know how hard it is to see clearly while you’re still in it.
+
+---
+
+## 🔍 What It Detects
+
+Tether flags emotional and psychological abuse patterns at the **message level**, including:
+
+- **Control** – overt and covert restrictions on autonomy  
+- **Gaslighting** – reality distortion, denial, contradiction  
+- **Blame Shifting** – manipulation of responsibility  
+- **Dismissiveness** – minimization, shutdown, invalidation  
+- **Recovery Phase** – manipulative calm following escalation  
+- **DARVO** – defensive reversal of blame  
+- **Guilt Tripping**, **Projection**, **Obscure Language**, and more
+
+Each label is assigned based on trained thresholds, tone, and contextual pattern analysis.
+
+It also provides:
+- **Abuse Score (0–100%)**
+- **Emotional Tone (anger, disgust, fear, neutral, etc.)**
+- **Motif Tags** for repeat patterns
+- **Risk Estimation** (early, escalating, or high-risk)
+
+---
+
+## 🧠 How It Works
+
+- **Model:** Fine-tuned RoBERTa, multi-label classification  
+- **Dataset:** Custom, real-language abuse dataset curated by survivors & reviewed for clinical clarity  
+- **Emotion Detection:** `j-hartmann/emotion-english-distilroberta-base`  
+- **Visualization:** Real-time timeline chart for multiple messages
+
+---
+
+## ⚠️ Safety + Disclaimer
+
+Tether is **not a diagnostic tool**. It does **not replace therapy**, legal support, or personal judgment.
+
+Instead, it offers **a mirror** — one that can help you ask deeper questions about how you're being spoken to.
+
+If you’re in an unsafe situation, we recommend reaching out to a support network or crisis line. For U.S. residents, the **National Domestic Violence Hotline** is available 24/7 at 800-799-7233 or via text/chat.
+
+---
+
+## 🧪 Use Cases
+
+- 🧍 Survivors seeking clarity on relationship patterns  
+- 🧑‍⚖️ Legal or DV advocates reviewing communication logs  
+- 🧠 Behavioral researchers modeling patterns of harm  
+- 📱 People asking, *“Is this message okay?”* and needing an honest, emotionally neutral lens
+
 ---
+
+## 🔗 Try it
+
+▶️ **Live App**: [https://huggingface.co/spaces/SamanthaStorm/tether](https://huggingface.co/spaces/SamanthaStorm/tether)  
+🌐 **More Info**: [https://www.usetetherai.com](https://www.usetetherai.com)
+
+---
+
+## 👩‍💻 About the Creator
+
+Tether is built by **Samantha Parnham**, a behavioral scientist, survivor, and advocate for trauma-aware tech. Her work blends ABA, psychology, and AI to create tools that help people feel seen, supported, and safe.
 title: Abuse Pattern Detector V2
 emoji: 💻
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