One in ten women each year falls victim to violence in her marital life in France, while three women lose their lives to it every 15 days. 25% of crimes in Europe involve the abuse of women by their partners. Violence within couples does not make social distinctions.

According to recent research, it primarily affects people of average and higher living standards. Physical violence in couples does not appear overnight. Long before that, there is a buildup of aggressive behavior and intimidation. The worst form of violence is covered violence.

If women do not "leave" such a relationship, it is because they have become trapped in a pattern of psychological oppression. Recognizing the mechanism of this oppression is the first and most essential step toward liberation from it.

The psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and psychotherapist Marie-France Hirigoyen, starting from numerous testimonies and examples of real situations, examines the deeper causes of violence within couples. "The Abused Woman" is a book of immense value for everyone, as it clearly and simply identifies the roots and characteristics of a phenomenon that plagues our time, from the very first signs of psychological violence, long before the emergence of physical violence itself.