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| Introduction: Thinking Through the Heart | |
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| The Privileged Are Not Exempt... Women from every social class are battered even those from moneyed, educated, and politically powerful families | |
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| Jan: This descendant of pre-Depression Michigan farm real estate money with a doctorate herself, escaped an abusive marriage to a man ambitious beyond his intellect | |
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| Netiva: This Israeli-born woman married a Jewish-American tourist and relocated to live with him in the United States | |
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| Her friendship network was critical to her escape from abuse | |
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| Nor Are Children Battering knows no age boundaries; girls can fall prey to it | |
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| Kimberly: This woman entered her first abusive relationship at age twelve and her abusive marriage during her senior year of high school | |
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| Her story links obesity to abuse | |
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| Jessica: This is the story of a high school homecoming queen who was battered most of her high school career by the school star athlete | |
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| A Two-Timing Batterer Men batter the women in their lives differently | |
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| This section highlights that reality with the case of a man who concurrently battered his wife and his extramarital lover | |
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| Rebecca: This Plains Indian woman was battered by her Euroamerican husband | |
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| With the divorce she lost custody of her children | |
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| Emily: This story captures the essence of the "Southern Belle'' mentality where gendered relationships are concerned | |
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| This woman endured premarital marital, and extramarital abuse | |
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| Family and Friends to the Rescue Battered women can be liberated by family and friends who support and do not blame them | |
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| Lee: The wisdom and patience of this woman's parents freed her from her abusive outlaw militia husband | |
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| Annette: This young Hispanic woman escaped her abuser with the help of her foster family | |
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| Faces of Shelter Life Women's shelters are structured and work in different ways to assist escape | |
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| Sharon: This is the story of a woman who decidedly broke the traditional edict of silence that shackles abused Black women | |
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| Her shelter experience is typical | |
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| Gretchen: An underground shelter system protects this lesbian woman and her four children who remain on the run from state to state from their abuser | |
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| When the System Works Sociopolitical structures other than shelters informal as well as formal, can help battered women leave | |
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| Raquelle: This is the tale of a Mormon woman abused by a professional athlete | |
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| The case and its jury trial drew national media attention | |
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| Colorado's mandatory reporting and arrest laws helped liberate her from abuse | |
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| Lucretia: This woman's life demonstrates the intersection of class race, homosexuality, and abuse | |
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| A shelter, in conjunction with food stamps, welfare, and transitional housing programs, allower her and her children to escape | |
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| Colette: This woman's story includes devastating loss: a mother's suicide and a young daughter's death by accident | |
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| Her tiny community mobilized an informal network of donated services to help her leave her abuser | |
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| Legacies of Loss and Death These are stories of women who escaped battering but at significant personal expense or with great loss | |
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| Blanca: This Puerto Rican-American woman relinquished custody of her child in order to escape her Vietnam veteran husband | |
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| Judy: As a final gesture of control the husband of this "preacher's kid'' hanged himself where she was certain to discover his remains | |
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| Freda: This is the story of a homeless African-American mother of five who contracted HIV from her abuser | |
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| Afterword: A Message for Battered Women | |