Women were not supposed to divorce their husbands, society told women to stay home and take care of the children and clean the house and obey their husbands, no matter the cost. There was no outside help for women fleeing their abusers. Women were left to fight their own battles. In the 1950's the man of the family was in charge of the family economics. The man was the sole provider and could keep his wife from accessing money.
Economic dependency is one of the main reasons why women stay in abusive relationships.
In the 1950's, women were dependent on their husbands for money and they didn't power over the economic situation. Economic power is key in an abusive relationship. Women didn't have a way to leave their abusers without money of their own to start over. In present day society, economic dependency is still one of the main reasons why women do not leave their abusers. Many women who do leave their abusers are forced to start over with nothing and go on welfare.