My mother will not leave her husband. He has physically and emotionally abused and terrorized her and my sisters. Because of my stepfather, my sister who was making straight A's is now failing classes and is depressed. He pushed her out the front door and dragged her behind the shed and beat her. But my mother will not leave to protect her children. They want to "work it out"... This is driving me crazy. Why do women stay even when it clearly is a danger to their own children's lives??

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2003

Answers

there are a lot of reasons behind why she stays behind. I'm not a psychologist so I can only offer advice based on experience from observations so don't take anything literally. She might be afraid he will do the same to her. She might have been stuck in that rut for so long that she knows no other way of life... there are too many reasons to list. My father lost a son (my brother) and it bothered him for years until I sat down and had a talk with him. Maybe if you have a long talk somewhere alone where she will be safe will help her out? like I said before, I can't speak from experience, I just care.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2003