All too often, when people hear of a woman who has been repeatedly beaten by her partner, someone asks, “Why does she stay with them?”
The answer is extremely complicated, but some answers can be found by understanding a condition known as battered woman syndrome, which is considered a type of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Psychologist Lenore Walker, EdD, coined the term in her groundbreaking 1979 book, The Battered Woman.
“Battered woman’s syndrome is the psychological effects of living with intimate partner violence,” Walker says. She notes that battered woman’s syndrome is not a mental illness, but the result of what happens when you live day in and day out with trauma. However, PTSD, which people with battered woman syndrome often also have, is considered to be a mental illness.
I have no idea why so many women, especially in the Red States, voted for Republicans who have either remained silent regarding the end of Roe… helped re-elect Republicans who have heralded the demise of Roe…voted for the guy who has bragged that he is THE GUY to help end Roe!
I cannot conceive of how any person can remain in a relationship with their spouse or partner when the majority of time spent with them has been full of battering.
Trump and the Republicans tell women they love them, and a few seconds later, they tell women that love means losing your control as a female and entrusting your mind and body to Trump and the Republicans. Have the majority of women who still voted Republican not realized their own trauma? Many husbands or spouses DO understand the trauma they inflict, and for these emasculated men, they think it makes them men.
