Lena had always been the quiet type. The girl who smiled even when she didn’t feel like it. The one who kept her distance but always tried to make others feel comfortable. She hadn’t known what love truly was when she met Mark. He was everything she thought she wanted: confident, charming, protective. He swept her off her feet, and for a while, it felt like a dream. But in time, that dream began to unravel.

At first, the cracks were small. Mark would get irritated over little things—her choice of friends, the way she looked at him when he was angry. Then came the slaps, always followed by apologies, always followed by the promise, “I’ll never hurt you again.” She wanted to believe him, so she did. Every time.

But the slaps grew into punches, and the promises, though hollow, still seemed easier than confronting the reality of what was happening. Lena stayed because she thought it was normal. Because she couldn’t fathom life without him. And deep down, she felt like maybe she deserved it. She had grown so accustomed to his controlling nature that she didn't know where she ended, and where the man who claimed to love her began.

The night it nearly ended her life was like no other.

Lena was in the kitchen, cutting vegetables for dinner when Mark walked in, his breath heavy with anger, his eyes dark. He didn’t speak at first—he never did before things escalated. She could see it in his face: the anger building, the rage behind his clenched jaw. He was drunk, but that was no excuse. She had learned to anticipate these moments, to brace herself.

“What did you say to me earlier?” he demanded.

“I—I didn’t mean it,” Lena stammered, backing away.

“You never mean it, do you? You think I’m stupid?”

Before she could answer, his fist slammed into her face. The impact was so sudden, so violent, that her vision went blurry. She staggered backward, falling to the floor. But he wasn’t finished. He grabbed her by the hair, dragging her across the kitchen, his grip suffocating and unrelenting.

“You’ll never leave me. You understand?” His voice was cold, seething with hatred.

Lena couldn’t speak. The air felt thick, suffocating, her throat closing up as he pressed his weight onto her chest. She tried to gasp for breath, but his hands tightened around her neck. Please, God, she thought, her mind fogging. I don’t want to die like this.

Her head spun. She could see flashes—her childhood, the dreams she once had, the future she had never imagined for herself. She wanted to scream, to fight back, but she couldn’t move. She thought about her mother, her best friend—who would find her? Who would care? Mark’s grip tightened, the darkness closing in.

It was in those final moments, when she could barely breathe and her body felt numb, that something inside her broke. It was a shift, a small, fragile flicker of light that began to push against the suffocating darkness. She couldn't die like this. Not without a chance, not without a fight.

With every ounce of strength she had left, Lena shoved her knee into his groin. He stumbled back, gasping, just enough for her to break free. She didn’t look back. She couldn’t. She scrambled toward the door, her body shaking with fear and pain. Her hands fumbled as she unlocked it, finally throwing herself outside into the cold night air.

Lena collapsed on the front steps, her chest heaving, the world spinning. She knew she couldn’t go back. She knew the pain, the fear, the bruises—those would heal. But what had broken inside her that night? That would take a lifetime to fix.

It wasn’t until the paramedics arrived that she realized how close she had come to dying. Mark’s grip had nearly crushed her windpipe. The doctors told her she had been seconds from asphyxiation. The bruises, the cuts, the swelling—they were just physical markers of a far deeper wound. The emotional scars would last longer. But Lena had survived. And for the first time, she felt a flicker of hope.

She didn’t know how she would rebuild her life, but she knew one thing: She would never let anyone, not even Mark, define who she was ever again.

It wasn’t easy, leaving him behind. It was terrifying. But Lena found help—support groups, therapy, a network of women who understood the fear, the silence. She began to rebuild, one step at a time, learning to trust herself again. She still had nights when she woke up in a cold sweat, the sound of Mark’s voice echoing in her mind. But she was stronger than before.

Her story wasn’t one of instant healing or fairy-tale endings. It was one of survival, of strength that came from knowing she was worth more than the life she had once accepted. Lena wasn’t a victim. She was a survivor. And that was all she needed to be.

The Women's Foundation of America

By The Women's Foundation of America

The Women's Foundation of America

Women's Rights are Human Rights

Team Members