I'm a 50 year old professional male and I'm also a battered husband. My children are grown up so my fears are not around that. I have lived with and been married for well over twenty years. I have slowly but surely modified my life to such an extent that I have very little life left. I do this so as not to provoke a violent outburst from my wife. I have been punched, kicked, scratched, hit with objects. I've had things thrown at me. I've had my hair pulled.

I've put up with all this, I said to myself, for the sake of my children, but now they are grown up working they don't need me. The violence has lessened over the years but lately it has increased again in both frequency and intensity.

I am scared. We have a mortgage and I can't afford to leave and keep the mortgage repayments. Are there any local support services that I can tap into? I believe that if I remain in my marriage I will be seriously hurt or killed. That's no exaggeration. As I attempt to take back control of some aspects of my life she is becoming more violent.

I need to know what my legal options are. I also need to talk to people so that I can get the courage I need to leave. Thank you for reading this, writing it down has made me feel better. Pat