Wow, this is an intense discussion. Rachel, I like what your counselor said about you loved your children enough to leave an abuser. I wonder why women need to take karate, and/or carry mace. I mean, I wish the world was peaceful enough that we did not have to carry potential weapons to protect ourselves from predators of our own kind! Ellem, if I recall correctly, you were saying that if a woman got assaulted by a stranger, she probably would not hesitate to press charges. There was a time when I would have thought I deserved to be assaulted. Let's say I was in a grocery store parking lot, putting my groceries in the trunk and a punk came by and knocked me to the ground, stole my purse, and ran away. I would not have reported this. I would have thought, Oh, it's my fault... I should not have been wearing these shorts, I should not have been bending over, I should not have been hungover. Yikes, what learned helplessness! After all, I was told by my very own family that I was worthless, useless, and in the way. So, maybe I would have thought that I was in the way of this punk, and I deserved to be shoved to the ground. There is way too much hurt on this planet, human to human violence.