We treat violence from men like one of life's inevitabilities: it must stop

Some families hand down ancient secret recipes. Others, fine china tea sets. My mum chose to pass down advice on how to deal with violent men, which she'd overheard from her friend's mother at 16. When I was the same age, while giving me and my boyfriend a lift, she thought it was an appropriate time to impart this aphorism. "You know, a man can come home and beat you all he wants. But at some point he's going to fall asleep, and that's when you get the iron out…" she said, locking eyes with my skinny, halfhearted goth boyfriend…