In honor of 'It's Time to Talk Day'....

My close friend finally left her abusive police officer husband with her 3 children last Christmas.  They have been living in cramped quarters with a woman from church ever since, awaiting their day in court. She was hoping they would remove her husband from the house and return her and her 3 children to their home but no such luck.  She is fine with that but feels this is why so many women DO NOT LEAVE.  She met, got pregnant with and married him in high school, and he did everything in his power since then to prevent her from working or going to school including sabotaging her car, burning her school books and stealing her clothes and shoes.  Since she left, she has somehow found the wherewithall to go to school, pick up odd jobs where possible and raise 3 of the most wonderful children I've ever met.  While all he does is continue to disallow her from moving in the house unless he can live in the basement!  She was hoping that the court would at the very least give her children the opportunity to live in there home for the next year as it would only be fair that he has lived there for the past year, but no such luck.  It's such a shame that the message she is getting from all of this is that there is nowhere to turn.