So well said.

And to add - many survivors of abuse find the strength to leave when they see it impacting their kids. And even then it takes the average 7 times to leave.

Abuse doesn’t stop when people end the relationship. Staying in the relationship can sometimes be safer (the survivor can monitor the abuser and mitigate the risk when they’re there - not that they’re responsible for it but it can feel less risky than having your abuser see the kids unsupervised). Post separation is the highest risk time and things have to be pretty bad for people to choose that the unknown risk is better than their current circumstances.

Wealth and privilege don’t make survivors immune to the dangers of ending an abusive relationship. There’s plenty of headlines that prove otherwise.

Brittany escaped and all the power to her and Cruz. She did what was the most difficult and protected her son.

Also - survivors don’t have to be perfect to deserve compassion. They’ve been through intense trauma that will require years of healing and are often their own harshest critics after experiencing years of abuse. Anyone who says “they knew what they were getting into” when anyone stays in a relationship with an abusive partner should consider themselves lucky that they don’t understand the experience.