i don't understand how people can dismiss her for being 'thick as shit', not having 'the mental capacity to realise the situation was wrong' etc etc and then conclude that she is not deserving of the slightest bit of compassion.
being stupid does not absolve you of your responsibility to take care of your children, but might it not equip you with fewer tools to do so?
i had a friend who is educated and clever, by the way, who has seen her husband batter her children, who has been repeatedly raped by him, who suspected that he was sexually abusing their daughter etc etc. the list of his abuses, i kid you not, was endless.
i and others have tried to help her in completely practical ways as well as offering emotional support, but they are still together, six kids (first is not his) and ten years later.
This is despite various people having phoned social services on them and despite the offer of a flat from womens' aid and good legal representation from a friend of ours (the reason she's no longer my friend is that i was one of the people who contacted SS).
he is a sociopath, and the reason he 'picked' her was that he could see her vulnerability. these animals would not look twice at a strong woman, what would be the point? i bet if we'd met her two months after she'd started seeing him he would already have been fully in control of her and able to do whatever he wished to her little son.
oh i don't know... the whole thing is tragic, and this woman should have spoken up of course. but i know my friend is a good person and a shit mother simultaneously, so it's hard to hear people dismiss this girl so completely. because my friend genuinely thinks that her husband's disgusting behaviour is normal, she has been so expertly trained by him.
terrible, terrible story, those photos are heartbreaking, my dd is a similar age...