Angelina
Yes, it is not easy to decide what would be best for Christine here, and you raise valid points. I have been thinking hard on the advice I gave, because of this.
In the end my fear of her exchanging one unhappy situation for another made me decide to advise first for independence, but I compromised by saying that if that would take too long, it might be better just to go for a relation anyway.
Every relation has a power balance, even though I don't like that phrase, because it suggests there is a struggle where both parties try to gain as much power as they can, and that is not always the case. But each partner in an equal relationship needs to find a balance between complaining about everything they don't like, and just accepting everything. When you get a little more experience in relationships, you (can) learn which things are not that important to you, and which things will lead to serious problems later if you don't address them now. A trivial example: for some people the color of the couch is not that important, and they quickly give in if their partner wants another color, and for others each time they would see that couch they feel a little frustration that the color is wrong.) When you go into a relationship with fear that if it doesn't work out, you'd have to fall back to the current unhappy situation, it is harder to stand up for yourself. And even if the partner is not intent on gaining the upper hand, it will be natural to just do it their own way, and fill that power gap.
Once the power balance in a relationship is established, it is hard to change it: the partner has to be willing to give up part of the power, and both parties need to work hard not to fall back into the established behaviour patterns.
So, my point is that going into a relationship that way has disadvantages, but that is not to say that it can't work out. If you are aware of the risk of giving in too easily, you can fight the impulse; if the partner is kind (s)he can actively ask for your opinion, if both are willing they can shift the power balance later, ...
