Yes!!!! FEAR.
The abuser usually will say "If you ever try to leave me, I will find you and kill you!".
(I'm going to post something I might have posted before.
In my postgraduate program we had an Ethics class. According to the textbook and our professor, a counselor has the ETHICAL DUTY to advise people who are victims of domestic violence (DV) that their life is in danger and *strongly* advise they leave. I had a HUGE problem with this. Next day in class, I approached the professor and asked him about the ViCAP report on domestic abuse. According to ViCap, DV victims are more likely to be murdered by their attacker when they flee or attempt to flee.
So, If I'm ethically bound to advise DV clients to leave their abuser...am I not also ethically bound to tell them about the threat ? He took note about my question/concern but he never got back to me. Bummer.)
Peace.