Why Don't Women Leave?
Distributed by the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project

1. Fear of losing children
2. Fear of physical harm
3. Love for my partner
4. Believed things would get better
5. Afraid of negative impact on children
6. Afraid of failure
7. Religious beliefs
8. Feeling helpless, nothing will help
9. Guilt about some of the things I've done wrong — I feel guilty, blame myself for the violence
10. Lack of financial resources
11. Negative response from community, police, courts, social workers, etc.
12. Unable to use current resources because of the way they were provided (language, disability, etc.)
13. My partner was starting to do the things I had been asking for
14. Fear of partner doing something to get me (report me to welfare, etc.)
15. I needed time to plan and prepare to leave
16. I thought I was too _____ to make it on my own _____(Fill in the blank: dumb, fat, ugly, or use your own words)
17. If I stayed, I at least knew what to expect (better sense of control)
18. Fear of unknown/fear of change
19. Fear of being without a mate/partner — This is the best I can do
20. I wanted to keep the violence a secret from family, friends, others
21. Exhaustion — too tired to do anything