See, that is a question that I cannot truly answer. My wife and her father have both been on my side when my MIL has hit me and told her not to, but if I were to involve police I am not sure how it would turn out. I never really feel pain when my MIL slaps or grabs me, but it is just the principle that she calls me family and even son yet goes on to berate me and physically try to hurt me. As for the living situation, there really is nothing like mens shelters where I live. I have no friends that would be able to take me in (even if they wanted to). As I told another commenter, if I were to talk with my wife about how upset I am and how far her mother goes (my wife has mild aspergers), she would get extremely anxious and at some point tell the MIL that I have a problem with her and that she needs to talk to me and get it settled.