I constantly had to maintain calm, living in tension. He was extremely jealous and possessive, forbidding me to work, forbidding any social dinners, even jealous of my brother. I tended not to speak, as if I were guilty. I monitored my language and movements carefully; the slightest thing could trigger him. Soon after arriving here, when I started to relax, I felt unbearable pain in my neck and shoulders. After the court ruling, I felt faint. It was the weight I had carried all these years. Today, I have been reborn in every sense.

S. photographed in the shelter’s courtyard.