How many times does your boyfriend/husband have to beat you until you leave him
 

So. Like the title of the thread says. How many times does your boyfriend/husband have to beat you until you leave him?


Or, if you are a lesbian. How many times does your man looking girlfriend/wife have to beat you until you leave her?

You should ask my friend K on the second part. :rolleyes: :mad:

I love how she tells me that "this is just the way guys are." Huh? I date real guys, not some chick who binds down her boobs with ACE bandages and wears a plastic penis...and they've never laid a hand on me.

That is hilarious, weird, sad and hilarious again.



I have a friend who got hit recently. She said "i aint puttin up with this shit. no ones ever hit me before. oh hell no". blah blah blah. wah wah wah.

She's still with him.

My first husband threw something in my general direction and that was enough for me to leave. I wasn't waiting around to get hit.

this thread is sad

no one should be getting hurt :(

:( :( :( I see you've never been in that situation. I hope you never are.

ONCE

There are several reasons why people don't leave abusers. I'm going to assume here that the victim is a woman and the abuser is a man. This, of course, is not always the case.

1. The wife doesn't have the job skills to make it without the husband - she may have gotten married right out of high school or never worked a real job.

2. The wife is afraid for her own safety if she leaves (then he'll kill her), her children's safety (if she can't prove abuse in court, the dad could get custody), and even the pets safety - if you leave me I'll kill your dog.

3. She believes him when they're in the honeymoon phase and she loves him for the non-violent times. Phases go from tension building, to outburst, to honeymoon. During the honeymoon he says things such as, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, I didn't mean to, and I love you.

4. She blames herself. Just as many people think sex is dirty, many people believe that they deserve the beatings as punishment. If they were "better" they wouldn't get hit. It's an indoctrination that starts in childhood.

5. No resources. No money because husband keeps close tabs on how much you spend. No friends because he doesn't like you talking to or spending time with othe people. Limited family support for the same reason or because they were abusive as well.

There are other reasons, but try to imagine having limited resources, usually few friends because the abuser cuts you off from them, several children to be responsible for, if you stay, at least the kids get a meal. If you go, where do you stay, what do you eat, how do you get to a DOVE shelter when you haven't even heard of one, or the nearest one is 40 miles away in a larger city?

It's not as easy to walk away as many think. Blaming the victim is a bad idea.

Adding to what Drolefille said, there's also often self-esteem issues. In most cases, the physical abuse doesn't just come out of nowhere. Oftentimes, it's accompanied by, if not preceded by, mental/emotional/psychological abuse. Because, if a guy acts all wonderful and then out of nowhere starts smacking his girlfriend around, she'd probably think he's a psycho and get the hell out. But when it starts small, like with him complaining about her or the things she does, it'll sneak up on her. And he's able to do and say worse and worse things to her. And if someone's constantly told that they're not good enough and that no one else will ever love them or want them, it eventually erodes their self-confidence and they start believing that no one else will ever want them.

I stayed with an abusive boyfriend because of #2. I had to have him arrested and then I snuck away to where he couldn't find me. The first time he hit me, I hit him back. We used to fight hard. But, as time went by, he got too rough and he was too strong for me. I shouldn't have stayed (#3 kept me coming back plus I had a little of #4 because I knew I was hitting him back).

When I finally got away, I thought I was pathetic for not standing up to him, but then again he had threatened my friends and family and had pulled guns and knives on me. I was kinda at a loss for a while until I got the nerve to go to the police and explain what was happening.

It's not easy to get out once it starts. You REALLY have to leave at the first sign of trouble...not try to be tough.

Thanks for the hugs! It's ok now...I'm engaged to a man who doesn't retaliate, even verbally. He is the most gentle person I know. I learned my lesson well.