Long before any other modification of her legal status was gained, a woman subjected to cruelty at the hands of her lawful spouse was at liberty to seek police protection.
The reason why police protection was so seldom sought is plain enough.
Imagine a woman complaining of a husband who would be certain to beat her again for revenge, and to whom she was bound irrevocably by laws stronger even than the laws on the statute books.

Remember that the only right she had was the right to be supported, and if she left her husband's house she left her only means of living.

She could hardly support herself, for few avenues of industry were open to women.

She was literally a pauper, and when there is nowhere else to lay his head, even the most miserable pauper thinks twice before he runs away from the poorhouse.

Besides, the woman who left her husband had to give up her children.