The Harsh Reality of Leaving: Understanding the Complexities of Abuse Victims and the Challenges they Face

Why don’t abuse victims up and leave abusers? Why does Allison resort to the extremes of executing a murder plot rather than divorce her husband? Let’s talk a bit about it. The thing that I appreciate most about Kevin can F himself, aside from the fact that it takes pains to establish how exactly Allison devolves to these extremes in the first place, is that it shows why Allison can’t simply leave. Cause more often than not, this is the first question abuse victims find themselves faced with because the general public appears to be under the impression that leaving is that simple. But whenever this question is asked in the show, why doesn’t Allison leave? The show almost seemingly asks the audience in turn, where the show takes pains to repeatedly emphasize the fact that Allison has no money, at most 100 to 200 dollars. Allison has no money, no savings, and no feasible means of making either. She has no degree due to her husband taking her student loans and using them to fund his fraudulent business schemes, and has been likely blacklisted in professional settings due to actions her husband has undertaken. She has no family or friends to fall back on because she’s been isolated to such an extreme. Every person in her immediate Social Circle is one intertwined with and closely allied alongside her husband. On top of this, Kevin monitors her location and controls access to the only car they own. He’s befriended the local Police force and has shown himself to not be above weaponizing them. People will prattle on about domestic abuse shelters because they’re under the impression these resources are readily available and openly accessible to the people that need them. But more often than not, they’re not. In a city like the one Allison lives in, riddled with poverty, opioid abuse, and rampant alcoholism, it’s virtually guaranteed that every place that provides these resources is overcrowded and underfunded. It’s likely they wouldn’t have room for her, especially if the abuse that she’s being subjected to isn’t physical. Her mother is in South Carolina. But her mother is her first abuser and no better than her terrible husband. Why doesn’t she just leave? What is she realistically supposed to do? Be homeless until a police officer picks her up and delivers her right into the arms of her husband? And the tragic reality is, the world is riddled with Allisons. So make sure to bear that in mind when hearing somebody’s testimony.