In the eyes of everyone who has not suffered from domestic violence it appears easy to just leave. Victims of domestic violence face gaslighting, microagression, judgment, and manipulation on daily basis which makes their situation more difficult. Many fault victims for staying where they are hurt, or for putting their children in danger by staying in an abusive relationship, but it is not as easy as it seems.
Battered woman syndrome is a subcatergory of post-traumatic stress disorder where a woman may develop learned helplessness that causes her to believe she deserves being abused and that she cannot run away from it. Some women suffer from this and are not aware of it because their love for their partner outweighs the hurt they feel. It is not always easy to get up and walk away, so before you judge a woman in an abusive relationship, try being there for them. Listen, help as much as you can, teach, and be a shoulder to cry on for them so they do not feel alone. Because it is not always easy to just leave.
