Victims give an abuser the benefit of the doubt, whereas abusers do NOT give a victim the benefit of the doubt, and in fact often assume negative intent.

This doesn’t mean victims of abuse are wrong for giving someone the benefit of the doubt, depending on the action, but it highlights how abusers hijack normal, healthy relationship dynamics to their advantage. In a healthy society, being suspicious of everyone is not only counter-productive, it can be destructive. So abusers ‘hack’ a high trust system for their own ends.