Many women who are physically assaulted by their partner assume that leaving their partner will result in them living in poverty. Numerous studies reveal that women who find themselves in an abusive relationship tolerate it because they see no other way out. Along with losing their financial provider, many women also lose their support network which includes friends and neighbors. .
America's criminal justice system also acts as a deterrent for woman deciding to leave their abusive partner. "Woman subjected to repeated physical violence are very vulnerable and don't feel they are necessarily protected by the criminal justice system" (Hall 1996). A major problem with our criminal justice system is the delayed response time it takes police officers to arrive at the scene for a domestic violence dispute. The police play a very significant role in regards to domestic violence because they can aid a woman in leaving the situation and can also implement warnings to the batterer. When a woman decides that informing the police proves to be useless they will be less likely to contact them in the future and less likely to leave the relationship. The worst case scenario is when the arriving officer takes sides with the batterer because then the woman feels hopeless.This presents a serious problem and it is very evident that police practices that deal with domestic violence are in need of some reorganization.
Many studies suggest that children who experience parental violence in their household growing up are at a higher risk of domestic violence. Usually women who find themselves in an abusive relationship watched their mother being physically abused by their significant other. Strangely enough, studies concluded that woman who were the victims of child abuse or watched their parents being abused when they were younger are more inclined to remove themselves from a violent relationship than a woman who never witnessed or experienced such events.