No, really I just happened to have all the skills and resources needed (milk a goat, look like an at least vaguely threatening garden gnome when carrying a farm tool, have a spare rest room and some spare time etc.) and I'm glad I can. I've been in this situation without support and will try to help others get out if it's within my power.

Yesterday I was a bit eaten up at the edges and flashbacking heavily after so much frustration with the aggressor and the police, thus having to write the above rant. We went and fed the animals today without more hassle and are all mentally in a better place.

She's off to find a new place to live, and we'll make sure the animals get moved there safely. It more often than not ends up like this - victim has to leave, as authorities cannot protect them adequately or don't care enough to do so.

I have accompanied my friend to the DV support office today and listened through a detailed account of what he did. It's tough to listen to. Tough to come to terms with the fact that there is so little actual help available, and all of it is excruciatingly slow to arrive and locked behind bureaucratic barriers. Tough to come to terms with the fact that so many women, myself included, easily fall prey to bullshit artists on a power trip, or man sized toddlers with puppy eyes, or a mix of the two. And it's always women who I would have thought far beyond such situations. I feel I still haven't understood what went on inside of myself as I lived through this shit and didn't leave, and I haven't understood what happens inside of these guys, how they can turn from decent person into absolute shitshow within days or months.

I expect to see rather more of this as people get driven to the edge by the ongoing financial, social, political crisis all around us.