In honor of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 26 shares the anonymous testimony of a woman from Las Tunas who decided to defend her personal growth at all costs, trying to leave behind a complicated past.

The edge of the makeshift table for doing nails dug into her ribs, causing a sharp pain. It was after 5:00 pm, and she had rushed through all her schedules to put some bills in her purse. When she finally managed to stand up, she ran to eat the bread she had left covered at midday, but the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs froze her appetite…
…
“I had just turned 16. I thought I was in love, and when he asked me to come to his house, I didn’t even hesitate. Right then and there, I told my mother I was going to get married. At first, things went well, mainly because I was always quiet. I soon realized it wasn’t just on weekends; he drank every day. He always made up an excuse."

“We lived practically alone because my brother-in-law was in prison in another province, and my mother-in-law spent most of her time away, bringing him supplies. She wasn’t involved in our lives. The little money we had went to bottles of rum. I remember that at that time I was very thin and hungry. When my mother saw me, she commented that I looked sick.”

“There were times when I went back to my old house just to eat. So I didn't think twice and started working. I began by cleaning two houses in the neighborhood, doing laundry for pay, and mowing yards. With that little money and some help from my parents, I was able to start painting nails. The people in the neighborhood supported me without even knowing me.”
…
She stumbled into the house. She went straight to the nail table, opened her purse with the pesos, and grabbed it like a child about to continue their favorite game. She stepped in front of her, trying to snatch away the only way she could get a hot meal.

From then on, all she heard was the sound of her own head hitting the wall. Her hair was wet with a thick liquid that made her nauseous. She vomited again on the stairs as someone helped her down. Once at the emergency room, arm in arm with her mother, she realized something was wrong because the doctor kept saying, “It can’t be, she’s disfigured…”

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“We didn’t say he hit me, that he grabbed me by the hair and dragged me down the stairs. I couldn’t open my eyes because of the swelling. The neighbors saw everything, and nobody called the police. I remember someone very close to me saying, ‘Honey, why did you confront him, you knew he was drunk?’”

“My mom told me we weren't going to report him because of his mother. He fractured my skull, he broke my ribs. Imagine, I weighed 45 kilograms, and he didn’t even pay a fine.” But that wasn't the worst pain I felt… A comment was made within my closest support network, one I still can't get out of my mind: 'So-and-so brings it on herself, she attracts trouble, how can she accuse someone else, no one will believe her, what nerve to cause problems…'”

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“I don't know if this has happened to you, but the brain erases events so it never has to remember them again. I was in prep school, and there was a teacher who taught Defense Preparation. I noticed he was a bit pushy, but that was it. One weekend when I failed, he told me to go to his office because I had failed.”

“When I arrived, he closed the door and started touching me. He said he knew what I wanted, that I wasn't a virgin, that I shouldn't back down. I started screaming and called my mom. It scared me because I thought he was going to rape me, and he almost did. It still left me with a feeling of disgust, which unfortunately, I already knew."

At home, my family was harsh. They reminded me that, according to me, when I was 13, a boy tried to grope me at the river, and it caused a huge problem, that they had to take me to a psychologist, that they went through the most shameful experience of their lives, and now they were facing the same dilemma again, wondering how this was even possible."

"What can I say…? They made me believe I was the one to blame, the black sheep of the family, and that's why, when they beat me senseless, they didn't go to the police either. I believed it for many years that I provoked things and that I was the one with the problem."

I had treatment for my anxiety; Even today, there are nights I don't sleep a wink, that I wake up with a racing heart and I'm terrified, I freeze up. I became a woman with rock-bottom self-esteem and the recurring thought that I was going to go crazy. I haven't completely shaken off this; sometimes I have to chase after amitriptyline, but the church and the school saved me.”

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At 22, with a healthy sparkle in her eyes, she voluntarily joined the programs against gender violence, led in Las Tunas by the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC in Spanish). She is an educator, a graduate in Art Education, and she loves talking and interacting with young people.
She has big ambitions: to earn a doctorate, to have a voice that serves as a guide for other young women and men who don't find the necessary support at home.

“There are all the laws to protect women, but let's not fool ourselves, we are still vulnerable. Even more so in my case, because I am Black. To the abusers who crossed my path, I was 'that little Black girl'; that's what even those who were supposed to administer justice called me.
“I never dared to say these things out loud before, to remember the details. Now I feel like I've lifted a great weight off my shoulders. The projects against gender violence have given me that strength; that understanding that I am not broken, that one can heal.”

“My parents are professionals, but my childhood was riddled with taboos. Religion wouldn't let us talk about sex, protection, or violence. I found myself caught up in so many conflicts when I was still young enough to be playing with dolls. That's where my concerns lie; we can't neglect our children, girls and boys; the world out there can be brutal without supervision."

But if it happens to you, if you're beaten, if you're harassed, if you think everything has broken down… don't feel ashamed, it's not your fault. If your support network fails you, go further, but ask for help. And you have to believe it: you're not broken.”