But, it can take up to 35 incidents of abuse before a woman will even call the police. Ironically, in calling the police, her chances of being murdered, or seriously abused by the offender increase dramatically. In the place of no alternative interventions, police intervention seems to be the only choice, and can make a difference between life and death. In the Vernon, BC massacre, for example, had the RCMP acted right away, that family might still be alive today. There were nine people killed.
Violence is about unequal power relations that allow one party to dominate the other.
The question is to equalize the power, which means that women who have a devalued status in society, must have that status raised. Women must be accorded economic equality for both paid and unpaid work. Women must have political rights, so that decision and policy makers consider women's concerns and realities, and provide support for women caught in abusive relationships. They need economic support. They also don't leave because society disbelieves them, and that has to be rectified.