Quote Originally Posted by mpellegrino {Red Dragon} View Post
Oz, with all due respect, Sir I have to disagree with this statement. Most battered housewives to not return to their husbands out of consent, they return out of fear and/or a lack of a support system. As thir pointed out, many reasons are behind their decision to return to the abuser but I honestly don't believe they are returning because they consent.
Erin Pizzey (Prone to Violence) concluded from years of work running a women's refuge that many of them returned because they were hooked on the excitement of a dangerous partner: they were conditioned to process abuse as love. She was hated by feminists because they said she was blaming the victims, or saying they were happy where they were, which she wasn't; she was saying that, in her experience, the problem was more complicated than just providing a safe space. Someone who is emotionally damaged to the point where they can't break free is both abused and, in the strict legal sense, consenting (in the sense that an alcoholic consents to taking another drink); which just shows that consent isn't an infalible test of right and wrong.