Ladies, I know it's hard being a woman in this male dominated society so I wish to share my story with all of you so that you don't give up because you are not alone. I remember it clearly as if it was yesterday, when my self made prison was demolished. I remember walking out of a building with a green book in hand and Monique in the other as I left my past behind. In that very same building I had signed my contract for my suffering. I clearly recall feeling light and free, at that exact moment I stepped outside that building with the green booklet. For me then it had been a foreign sensation as it had been a long time since I had felt like that. It reminded me of the time, I had just gotten my masters degree in Medicine. I had been free of worries, everything was new and exciting. At that time I had thought everything was perfect. My career was starting and now all I was waiting for was to get married and have children just like everyone else and settle down. Things changed when I met Julio at one of the parties my best friend had invited me to. He was intelligent, handsome and behaved like a gentleman. At the time I thought he was my prince charming. I didn't know that was just the facade he used to fool everyone. When we started dating everyone from my friends to family said he was not a good man. For him I had turned my back towards them, I left them behind without a single goodbye now I cherish them. After the divorce, I could clearly remember the promises he made to me under the old oak tree in the center of my hometown. That promise made me go with him. He had said he would cherish me well as he was while on his knees with a ring in hand. Our wedding vows had been very similar. I still remember that it was a promise to cherish each other and to work hard together to build a home for our family.

I did not know at that time that I had signed my name to a contract of five years of suffering. The illusion my mind had created of the man I loved was shattered after five months of marriage. It was not like he had not shown the signs before we tied the knot. I had ignored the signs and I had then suffered the consequences of doing so. At the time I had wanted to divorce him but I had learnt that I was already 2 months pregnant and I wanted my child to have a happy and complete family. So I felt obligated to stay and not leave. I wanted to see things through until the very end or at least until my child was old enough to understand. I won't deny that at the time I thought that maybe with the birth of the child he would improve and loosen up but I was wrong. Things only got worse, at the start it was only small things but it became worse as times passed. He had asked me to resign when I was pregnant and I thought it was not a bad idea. That was a mistake as with the resignation I couldn't leave the house. He would not allow me to step a foot outside after that, not even for small things like taking out the garbage. When Monique was three, I asked him if I could go out and work again. He got very angry, he started throwing things at me so I stopped asking. After the fit he made he told me to stay home and look after Monique as well as cook and clean the house for that was the only thing I should be doing. He was a man who believed that women were only there for giving birth, taking care of the children and that it was the man's job to go and work.

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He would get mad if he came home and saw that everything was a mess. He would hit me or punish me with little food and water for a whole week or more. One day I mustered up the courage to ask if I could go work because the amount of money he was providing was not enough and Monique would start going to school in the next year as she was already 5. He got angry and slapped me. It made me fall on to the ground, he then proceed to stand on top of me as he started to hit and scolding me, inflicting so much pain on me. The only good thing about him was that he never hit me in front of Monique nor treated Monique badly but I feared that it was only temporary. I knew his mind set and the fact that Monique was a girl wasn't really helping, I feared for her future. That thought had been with me for a long time but after that incident I realized that he might never change. That very thought made me leave the very next day. As he left for work just like usual, I hurried to pack our stuff and the little money I had saved up. He would usually lock the door but this time I used the spare key he had lost one day when he came back from his job drunk. As we left that house tears started running down my face but I forced my self to not look back. I left the place with might daughter headed back to were everything began and 2 months later after I left he found me and tried to take me with him. This time I didn't let him have his way and fought back and as he let my go I slapped him in the face with all my strength and looked him straight in the eye and told him that I would be seeing him in court as I wanted a divorce. That day I was afraid of his retaliation but at the same time I realized that I am no longer afraid of him. After that day I went to court and asked for a trail and after the trial was over I had received custody of Monique. Now as I am older and I look back I have realized that I don't regret the time I spent with him because it allowed me to learn and grow. I only feel sorry for Monique as she is the one to suffer from the casualties that came about due to my own decisions that I had made. Thanks to does decisions she has an incomplete home but I am really grateful to have her in my life, she for me is my greatest joy. I know tell my story so that any women in our society can also feel that you are not alone and that they aren't fighting alone that we have been through the same situation and we won. Now Monique my most priceless treasure has grown into a fine lady with my help and love.