ABSTRACT
Women’s experiences of living with violence vary. Removing themselves and their children from a violent partner also varies demanding different strategies in different cases. Some women can leave the man immediately. Most women do not and take varying amounts of time and endure different experiences before either leaving for a place of safety, develop effective coping strategies or work with their partner (and often a psychological therapist) to change the quality of the relationship and stop the violence. Women from different backgrounds also experience and make sense of their partner’s behaviour in different ways. This chapter explores different theoretical perspectives and data from women’s accounts of living with and leaving violence.
