We were taught how to fall in love. We were not taught how to protect ourselves inside it. Nobody explained what a marriage contract means. Nobody told us that keeping your own bank account wasn't a lack of trust. That absence of education costs women years, money, and sometimes their safety.

All relationships have difficulty. All couples argue. So how do you know when you're dealing with normal human friction — and when you're dealing with something that is genuinely harming you? This is the question that keeps women stuck longer than almost anything else.

Nobody goes into a marriage thinking it will end. But there is a difference between hoping for a good future and being prepared for a difficult one. Most women are taught the first thing and not the second. That gap is where they get hurt.