Somebody on the previous thread said they didn't think DV was a reason for neglecting your children, I disagree. My mum had two children to her first husband, she got married at 17, her husband started beating her while she was pregnant with my older brother who was born when she had just turned 18. My mum was neglectful with my older siblings, she couldn't always afford to feed them, clothe them, they didn't always have hot water or heating. She was brutalised by her first husband and didn't really have a lot of emotional capacity left for her children. She wasn't cruel but they were emotionally neglected and physically neglected. However, when she was finally able to leave him, she met my dad and had my brother and me and we were cherished, along with her first two children, she finally had the emotional capacity to fully love, cherish and support her children. My mum is of average intelligence and is not abnormally compliant but because or her abuse she wasn't able to be the mother she had the potential to be. DV affects so much of a family's existence.