Running a Family

Abstract

Chapter 3 details why so many women wished to remain with their abusers and how it was they started moving toward the law despite their best efforts. Using interview and observation data, the author describes how women initially wished to avoid the law. They tried to “run a family” (sansar calano): work things out, make the violence stop, have a peaceful family life with people who had abused them. This chapter asks what it means to “run a family” and examines the social and institutional factors that shape women’s desires. It then goes on to show how, despite their commitments, in the process of seeking help women became enmeshed in kin networks that pushed them toward legal engagements.