Although several studies find that the most dangerous part of an intimate relationship for women is when it breaks up, relatively few studies look at women who want to break up a relationship, are in the process of leaving, or who have left a relationship. This qualitative exploratory study looks at incidents of sexual assault committed by former husbands or cohabitants in the lives of rural women in Ohio. Male peer support, which has previously been examined only in studies of college men and men in urban areas, was a constant theme among this study’s respondents, in addition to patriarchal control and the use of alcohol and drugs. These women suffered multiple serious sexual assaults and experienced other harms, including psychological assaults and the destruction of prized objects
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