Statistics of women who do leave their abusive relationships indicate that it takes five years on average for a non-Jewish woman to leave her abusive relationship. However, statistics show that it takes Jewish women on average 15 years to leave theirs. Jewish women may have additional reasons for staying. She may feel that no one will believe this could be happening in a Jewish family. Given all of this, you can begin to understand why there are so many women who stay in their abusive relationships.
Abuse can occur in many different forms.
It may be physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, economic or combinations of all of these. The abuse can include slapping, kicking, punching and a whole range of attacks, including killing. It is equally common to experience emotional and psychological abuse. Many Jewish women who have reported abuse say that the emotional abuse occurred for years before a single physical assault took place. As well, in the Jewish community, abuse may take place when a husband refuses to give his ex-wife a Get, a Jewish divorce document.