Why Do Women Stay in Abusive Relationships

NIKITHA ANTO

Abuse. It can be physical, like harming someone physically, or it can be emotional, threatening, gaslighting, etc. No matter what the form is, all kinds of abuses are suffocating and mentally exhausting. So why do women bear such acts, why do they put themselves through this pain and suffering?

Many women who stay in abusive relationships are manipulated into believing that its their fault and that they deserve to be treated in a bad way. In other cases, they realise that their partner is abusive but they wish to change them by being loyal to them. Love is a complicated thing but people should have some boundaries. We need to let go of the people who do us more harm than good.

Another reason is financial instability. Many women these days have well paid jobs and are running their houses, but we are talking about the majority. Majority of the women do not have very well-paid jobs that might suffice the needs of the entire family, especially if kids are involved. And hence they are forced to stay in the same roof as their abuser. Times are changing and hopefully this does not happen in the future. Then comes fear. Especially in the abusive relationships that involve physical violence, the abuser can be threatening. They might threaten to kill or harm their victims if they ever tried to run. I saw a video where a woman was talking about her abusive relationship, and she said that her ex-husband had threatened to harm their kids if she ever tried to leave him. Humans can be inhumane sometimes.

In our country, there are more rural areas but this also happens in well-educated families, our own parents will tell us to stay in the abusive relationship. Hitting a woman is so normalized here, that its actually considered as not that big of a deal. They also say comments like “a woman can’t survive alone”, “don’t bring shame to the family”, “everyone is not perfect”, “a woman needs to learn to adjust”, the list goes on. The pressure put on a woman to stay with an abuser is just extensive in this country.

But be it anywhere, it is tough to get out of an abusive relationship, there are real life consequences. There are so many emotions and risks involved. But in the end is it worth it? YES. ∎

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