Your integrity and dignity take priority over other considerations.

If you experience bullying, threats, intimidation and tries to undermine your worth, then you address these issues.

This needs a precision in language, a sharpness of memory of incidents of what the authoritarian said or wrote.

If the person starts to explode, you may need to quietly withdraw from the communication and leave them with their outburst.

You say you will return later to discuss your concerns when the person has cooled down.

A clear communication with the other cannot guarantee a change of heart in that person. It may be a series of small, thoughtful steps that start to change the authoritarian.

Submission in the face of oppression, subtle or gross, sustains authority over your life. Others, who have suffered abuse, need to speak up.

We employ words, spoken or written, to make clear our concerns.

Action in the face of the authoritarian shows ethics, integrity and respect for oneself and others.

You speak up to change the unwarranted demands and belittlement from the authoritarian.

Saying nothing to anybody about abuse is not a choice.