Right, o.k, I was with my ex for 8 years, during that period the following things happened; I told her I was leaving-she said "what are you waiting for" and pushed me down a flight of stairs. Another time she lunged at me with a knife-lets just say I was lucky to escape with a minor cut on the arm and 6 stitches on the palm of my hand through having to wrestle(by the blade) the knife away from her. Then there was the time she poured a kettle full of water over me because she found out I'd spent the night with another girl whilst we were on a temporary split(luckily for me the water had cooled sufficiently to cause no lasting damage, but it hurt like a Bitch-no pun intended). She also hit me in the face with a bottle of Vodka, breaking my nose & knocking out one of my teeth(not entirely true-it was my dentist who removed the tooth because it was beyond repair) Then there was the time she smashed me in the knee with a clothes Iron-The most painful thing I've ever felt in my life-to get up off the sofa(where I was practically stuck for days) I had to grab a handful of my Trousers to move my leg, due to my inability to bend it. another time, she came at me with a knife(again) I kicked her in the knee, slammed her into a Fridge and promptly left. Two days later i was arrested for Assault, the charges were eventually dropped-but when she wanted to fuck with me and stop me seeing my children, have a guess at what ammo she used? yep! my arrest for Assault, add that to the convictions I had as a juvenile and I was pretty much screwed.
The point I'm trying to make is: Violence does not condone violence, stooping to her level(albeit in self defence) was the biggest mistake of my life. If anybody ever suffers violence at the hands of a partner-just fucking leave them, stooping to their level might just come back to bite you on the arse.