You're so right Clay. The original version of the post listed the region these men came from, however, I removed that and went out of my way to leave it unsaid due to the wide-ranging nature of this affliction. We grew up in a quiet little neighborhood, in a quiet little city, until a deluge of people from a different culture arrived in the early 90's. In our little town, we began to notice an "ownership" of women we'd never seen before coming from a group known for extreme macho behavior. No one had ever hit my Mother or called her his "property," so I was shocked to see the women from this region accept it.

What continues to astound me is why an informal background check isn't done. Ask his ex-wife or girlfriends what kind of man he was. If he's a batterer, don't even get started with him. Time and time again, I heard pregnancy as the reason for staying. The men admitted they got them pregnant on purpose to tie them to the man.

The key is for her to find out what kind of person he is before the relationship begins.

The girl with the fire extinguisher was my neighbor. She was raised in this I'm just a woman culture and repeatedly asked me and the others to call the police for her. We were concerned for the kids, yet, when they showed up, all we heard was don't arrest my husband! The police would get mad at us for calling them, so we all met and decided no more. She had to learn to break those chains herself.