What pushes a batterer over the edge to actually brutalize a woman?

Anything. Anything that can trigger his anger. And this anger can seem to all of a sudden erupt from nowhere. Anytime that a woman is in a relationship where she feels as if the other shoe is going to drop any second, she needs to leave that relationship. And the best advice that I can give is for the woman to leave the home and to go somewhere out of the angry man's comfort zone. Men are territorial. If you want to get away from a man, get out of his territory. And file a report with the police so you at least have that.