In the November issue of The Weekly, Wendy Squires looks at the scourge of violence against women in Australia.
We received this amazing poem in response from Nadia, a London-born nurse who emigrated to Australia in 1994 with her husband and two children. Although she says she was always aware her husband had a "volatile temper", she hoped after married life he would calm down. She was wrong.
She says the violence he perpetrated upon her was initially physical, in time it became psychological.
Finally, in 2007, she hurt her back and was no longer able to provide an income for her husband. A year later, he left her as a result. "[It was] the best thing he could have ever done," she says.
Today, Nadia she is busy rebuilding her life and is happier than she's ever been, writing and publishing her stories and poems. She is determined to spread the word that violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances. This, she says, this along with her kids is her motivation to carry on. Her only one regret? That she didn't have the courage to escape years before.
This is Nadia's poem...
Captivity!
Dedicated to all those who have ever suffered abuse. If you know someone who has or is still suffering , I urge you to do something, sitting on the fence, cannot be an option!
He kept me in captivity
He threw away the key
He closed down all the windows
So no one else could see
He unplugged all the telephones
And internet as well
He thought his name was Satan
Condemning me to hell!
But he didn’t estimate my strength
Or the distance I could go
He knew not of the secrets
That only women know!
He thought that I was done for
And never would survive
Or that in his wildest dreams,
That God would be my guide!
That the power of prayer is infinite
That no one can supersede
That inner strength builds up inside
To those that are in need
So was it fate, or just pure luck,
Or was it just meant to be?
That the bully didn’t win that night
As the winner was...well me!
Your say: Tell us what you think of Nadia's story below...
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