For battered women and the family and friends who want to help them—“a smart, step-by-step plan" (Susan Estrich, author of Real Rape). Thousands of women are abused, battered, stalked, and killed by their husbands, boyfriends, and partners every year. While the O.J. Simpson trial raised domestic abuse to the forefront of public consciousness, no one has offered women concrete advice on how to protect themselves and get safely away from their abusers. With detailed, practical information, Susan Murphy-Milano guides women through the process of protecting themselves from domestic violence and stalking. She explains what domestic violence is, how to deal with the police and enlist their help, how to make the decision to leave, what steps to take during the actual move, how to secure one’s home after leaving an abuser, how to navigate the legal system, how to ensure the safety of one’s children, and how to defend against stalking. Family and friends can be crucial in this process, and throughout the book Murphy-Milano suggests numerous ways in which they can help. Defending Our Lives is a much needed resource in the struggle of millions of women to protect themselves from domestic violence and stalking.