@ thir

I'm surprised you think my suggestion is far-fetched. Let us say you have been abusing your man, by beating him and burning him. He gets bruises and burns, true. But now you realise he's called the police, and you face a spell in gaol. You can easily cause bruises on yourself, and you can probably say he attacked you with a kettle of boiling water, but you fought back (hence the bruises on both of you) and the idiot spilt the kettle on himself. At least you have a chance of getting away with it. Depends on how meek and mild you can convince the policeman you are.

Far-fetched, as an example, maybe. But it could happen, so in reality, maybe not.

Also, I believe women will resort to mental abuse rather than physical because, (a) men are usually stronger, (b) women understand emotions better than men, and can manipulate feelings more easily, (c) women are more proficient verbally than men, and can always find a way to belittle them.

Finally, a doctor once told me that a mental injury takes up to 20 times longer to heal than a physical one. Assuming it does heal, I suppose.