It's tough to leave abusive situations

It's a lot harder for women to leave abusive relationships than people may think, a speaker told a Rural Crime Watch (RCW) meeting in Olds.

Dee Bremner, who helps facilitate psycho-educational groups on domestic violence for the Mountain View Women's Emergency Shelter made that point during Zone 2 (Central Alberta) RCW meeting.

About 30 people attended that gathering, held April 8 in the Cow Palace.

"They say ëwhy doesn't she just leave?' They tend to think it's easy and it's not," Bremner said during an interview with the Albertan.

"She's in the cycle of abuse and it's not as simple as that," Bremner added.

"She may be in love with her abuser. She may not want to remove herself and her children from the home. She thinks she can't support herself; she thinks she can't survive without her partner."

Women suffering abuse often feel they need to keep the children in the home, but that's not necessarily true either, Bremner said.

"They do need a father, but they need a healthy father," she said.

Bremner said if children remain in a home where there's domestic violence, they could grow up thinking it's normal for people to physically and emotionally abuse each other.

"There are studies that support that these children will grow up and then become victims or perpetrators themselves," she said.

Bremner did not have any statistics on rates of domestic abuse in Olds or Mountain View County, but she said according to Calgary police, rates of domestic abuse are rising in that city.

She said that's likely due to stress as a result of the economic downturn brought on by the low price of oil. Also police believe more women are reporting violence in the home.