At any given time, approx how many US/Cdn women do you estimate are dealing with an abusive relationship?

Every last one of them will SAY they are.

For very few is it actually true.

OK, here's the numbers.

20% of marriages end because of severe abuse and addiction, mostly by men.

9 out of 10 people in prisons are men.

Men own violence. Women occasionally rent it out from them.

No, it's not unique to North America. We've very likely been this way for over 5,000 years. Across all time and continents. Read your history. Women were never good as rapers and pillagers. Men...well, read your history.

Women marry believing their man isn't like that. Hormones tell a different story. Baby boys develop binocular vision at about 8 weeks, 2 weeks later than girls. They probably never catch up emotionally to girls. At age 5, boys stop paying attention to girls as sources of valid information. By age 7, girls catch on and stop talking to boys. Then nothing until boys want to date and break the silence.

That's a lot of years of disrespect and isolation from girls. Do men ever truly bridge the gap they created?

In many ways, no. As boys grow up, they see adult men disregard women the same way that they do as boys. Such a biological and cultural habit is hard to break. "Girly men" or "p**** whipped" are often the names for men who bridge that gap.

In addition to that cultural norm, abusers often repeat abuse they have experienced. Some estimates are that 10% of kids are sexually or physically abused. That's a lot of badly damaged people that will struggle with relationships, both those accepting of abuse and those intending to give it.

It is surprising that love can be stronger than biology or culture. But it can be. Abusers can't be helped by their spouse. The relationship is too complicated. Get out if there is abuse. Get help.

3 of them!

about 99.5% of marriages probably deal with that abuse.