“I’m starting an advocacy group at my university to break the...

“I’m starting an advocacy group at my university to break the stigma around domestic violence. We have about seventy members so far. I want to give women the confidence to speak about things that they only whisper about. I know what it’s like. I lived under the reign of my father for most of my life. He’d throw things. He’d punch us. I had to do so many little things to help us survive. I told the nuns at my school. I told our neighbors to call the police if they heard screaming. I made a duplicate key so we could go back for food whenever we escaped the house. During one argument I tried to put myself between him and my mother. He grabbed a knife and held it to my throat for three minutes. I remember him saying: ‘You’re a disgrace to me,’ and ‘I never wanted you,’ and ‘You make life harder.’ I was terrified, but I’d been terrified for most of my life, so I knew exactly what to do. I removed my mind from the situation. I prayed for my mother. I tried to reflect on my life. I remember feeling happy because I’d been alive for fourteen years, and I’d protected my mother for all that time.”

(Manila, Philippines)