Why Women Stay

Why doesn't she just leave?

It's the first question people ask.

She stays because she hopes it will get better. Maybe they can get help. Maybe she will make him happy again. Maybe it will stop.

She stays because she is ashamed that they have come to this, that she has allowed him to treat her this way, that she has taken him back so many times before.

She stays because she doesn't have enough money to start all over again. She hasn't held a job before, or she doesn't earn enough to support herself and the kids. She's scared to try to make it alone.

She stays because she is afraid. He has told her that she had better never try to leave him. He says that he will find her no matter where she goes. He says that he'll take the kids and run. He says he will track her down and kill her. She knows that he means it.