"I was in a violent marriage for years. I was in and out of it. We had eight children together, so I would go back to him out of fear and wanting to get my children back."
"Even when we were separated, we had to go to court, I had to go to him for the children, he even had access to the lone parent allowance I was getting because some of the older children were with him."
"I call that day six years ago my 'Freedom Day'. Away from the power that my husband had over me, my children had over me, my parents had over me - I was starting to live my life."
Many charities are unable to accommodate victims of domestic violence due to limited space in refuges and safe houses. Mary, a survivor, experienced years of trauma in a violent marriage, fearing for her life and feeling trapped. She lived in poverty, relying on social welfare and moving between refuges and emergency housing. After her husband's death, she finally found stability in a council-provided home, marking her 'Freedom Day' and reclaiming her life from years of control and fear.
Read at Irish Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]