Trapped in a web of violence

BROKEN teeth, broken bones, broken dreams. Why do women stay in abusive relationships?

People who have never been touched by the shadow of domestic violence struggle to comprehend why anyone would stay with someone to be their personal punchbag. For women who have felt the shock and pain of a loved one's fist slamming into their body, the answer is even less clear.

Professor of Psychiatry at the Mater Hospital and University College Dublin, Patricia Casey, simply says there is no easy answer. For each person it might just be one reason, or a variety of reasons, that entangles them in a seemingly inescapable web of violence.