Frequently subjected to domestic violence, she wanted a divorce, but because relatives urged her to think of her child, she drank pesticide and committed suicide.

Today I chatted with a director of the Women's Federation. She said that one thing they often do is mediate family conflicts, and that in rural areas women suffering domestic violence happens frequently. She told me a true story.

There was a mother who had had enough of her husband's domestic violence and was determined to divorce, but her relatives all urged her to think of her child, including her parents and brothers. This director of the Women's Federation said to me: This is not about fearing it would be bad for the child; it is actually about fearing that after divorce, her natal family would lose face, that after divorce it would be hard for her to remarry, and that they were afraid she would stay at her natal home and not leave.

For a man who commits domestic violence, it is very difficult to change. People from the Women's Federation went to the home several times to mediate and communicate, but the husband still scalded her with boiling water and beat her with sticks as before. This mother knew that telling her natal family would be useless. Looking at her child who was only 3 years old, in the end she could no longer endure the domestic violence and drank pesticide to commit suicide.

Living every day in a family with domestic violence brings only harm to a child, never any good. If it were you, would you divorce?