ABSTRACT Purpose to identify elements of vulnerabilities for the permanence of women who consume alcohol/drugs in marital violence. Method an exploratory, descriptive and qualitative study conducted with 16 women over the age of 18 years old, with a history of alcohol and/or other drug use and marital violence, registered in two Family Health Units in the urban area of a municipality of Bahia, Brazil. Women whose signs suggested alcohol use or abstinence and those emotionally unstable were excluded. Data collection took place from October 2016 to February 2017, through in-depth interviews. The data were systematized, based on the Collective Subject Discourse. Results economic dependence; the hope that the partner will change; the transgenerationality of marital violence and the non-resoluteness of the care network emerged as elements that make women who consume alcohol/drugs vulnerable to remain in marital relationships permeated by violence. Conclusion by pointing to elements that make women who consume alcohol and/or other drugs vulnerable to remain in marital relationships permeated by violence, the findings signal to the need for inter-sectoral articulations. This articulation among the various sectors should promote the implementation and/or deployment of effective actions that provoke reflections on social construction anchored in gender inequality and still assist the demands of women, culminating in the reach of female empowerment.