Two out of five women in the sample reported they did not experience a violation of the PO by the abusive partner. This is consistent with other studies that have examined protective-order violation rates, suggesting that POs are an important tool for women in attempting to end intimate partner violence. Three other main findings were derived from the study. First, the study confirmed prior research in showing that although abused women leave the abusive partner, the separation process is influenced by several factors. Being more satisfied with the relationship and having a higher household income in the year preceding the protective order were positively associated with continuing the relationship after obtaining a PO. On the other hand, women who had longer relationships with the partner and who had been stalked by the partner were less likely to continue the relationship after obtaining a PO. Second, the risk for the violence continuing involved factors that were more influential than just continuing the relationship. For women who did not continue a relationship after obtaining a PO, fear of the partner was predictive of PO violations. Also, stalking was a significant predictor of PO violations, whether or not women continued the relationship. The third main finding was that stalking was a significant factor in ending the relationship, regardless of the relationship's status after obtaining the PO. Approximately 1 year after the first interview, followup interviews were conducted that averaged 13 months after obtaining the PO. 2 tables and 51 references