“I had 3 months to figure out my escape. I stopped fighting back with my daughter’s father and kept calm. He was losing control, and it drove him crazy. ‘You’re not gonna take her from me,’ he’d say. I’d wake up to him pacing the kitchen talking to himself. I stayed quiet and texted a friend who said, ‘Wait 10 minutes, and then you call the cops. He could be lying.’”
‘I want to live!,’ I was screaming. The cops were on their way. I was trying to get out of the bathroom, trying to get my boyfriend off me, trying to hide in the tub.’: Single mom’s empowering story of surviving domestic abuse with infant daughter
‘One drink, I had one drink and after that, I remember nothing. My virginity was taken before I was ready.’ Woman’s powerful story overcoming boyfriend’s sexual assault
“The next day I woke up and we went to get breakfast. While we were driving he says, ‘I can’t believe that happened last night.’ ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘You don’t remember? ‘ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He got mad because I didn’t remember our ‘first time.’”
‘I heard a cracking sound and a thud as my head hit the window. He threw the car into park. I’d ‘pushed his buttons’ and made him do it. He told me it was my fault.’ Woman recounts how ‘fairy tale’ quickly turned to abusive nightmare
“In slow motion, the scene still unspools in my head. ‘You loved me once,’ I croaked out, looking up at him. We had history. We had a home together. Failure was not an option. I clung to him, my heart believing if I just loved him enough, he’d emerge from the darkness.”
‘My husband left to work on a ‘project.’ Receipts for bars, motels showed up on MY credit card. I demanded he show me his texts. ‘You’re not going to like it.’: Woman gets huge wake-up call after husband leaves for ‘work’
“Shaking and my heart pounding, I scrolled through comments. ‘I miss you.’ ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘When do I get to see you again?’ I don’t know how it started. I woke up with purple bruises on my throat in the outline of my husband’s fingers. I never questioned my decision.”
‘He forced me to the gym because he didn’t want me to get fat. I assumed it was normal. I was sure I could change him.’ Survivor’s eye-opening recount of abusive relationship with ‘older, amazing’ man
“He told me how sorry he was. It would never happen again. In the fetal position on the ground, looking up at him, I remember thinking, ‘This is it. This is how I die.’ The police came to my beautiful villa in a fancy part of town. ‘I’m so embarrassed,’ I told the officer. His response? ‘We’re called to this neighborhood more than any other.’”
‘I came home around 2 a.m. Something wasn’t right. In a matter of minutes, my carpet was on fire.’: Brave woman recounts how she escaped domestic abuse
“I got pregnant and things hit the fan. He started disappearing. For DAYS. My tires were slashed. My window was smashed. The police rolled their eyes. When my neighbor saw me, she grabbed me and pulled me into her house. I was met with, ‘But you are so strong. You just don’t seem like the type.’”
‘I no longer speak to my mom. Every day, I wonder about her. I look in the mirror and see her staring back. But I have to choose me over her.’
“Every day, I’m reminded that I’ve never felt the love of a mom. I know if I open the door to her, she’ll destroy me and all the progress I’ve made. I’m hurt and sad, but I’m also better off. You do not need to have a toxic person in your life just because you share DNA.”
‘Does that hurt?’ He smelled of liquor. I grabbed my baby girl and got in his face. All of the red flags were there, but I ignored them. I thought my love could make him a better man.’
“He’d deliberately go out and ‘ghost’ me. I felt trapped in a thick fog of confusion, heartbreak, and betrayal. My children and I grew to appreciate when he left to work. We could be ourselves and not have to walk on eggshells. Every time he’d swindle his way back in, I felt like I betrayed myself.”
‘My phone rings. ‘I don’t have time for this. I need to get my kids.’ Then my mouth dropped. We were greeted by 2 officers as we drove down the long gravel driveway.’
“I had already popped a bunch of pills and drank a bunch of Vodka. ‘I want to see him!’ I screamed, shaking profusely. My mom said, ‘No, you don’t. He shot and killed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun in his mouth.’ I look at my phone. It reads, ‘I love you.’ 6:24 pm.”
‘He lit my insides on fire. So, I did it. I married him. My body signaled that something was off. I pegged it as nerves. I didn’t know about the pools of women.’ Woman breaks free from abusive relationship
“It was the same with everyone. The same love songs, the same pet names, the same date night spots, the same EVERYTHING. In a ten-day period, he cheated with 3 people. He played it off as him being drunk and stupid. I believed it at the time. I didn’t tell friends or family. ‘If I can’t even make a marriage work, what else will I fail at?!’ I kept it private, until things began to boil.”
