She endured the unbearable and almost convinced herself that her life was normal.
Michèle (first name has been changed) is now 65 years old and she can finally put into words what she experienced: domestic violence.
“It’s only now that I can talk about it.
I was so suspicious.
I still am, it will stay,” she confides.
She was 19 when she met her future husband who was 35 and already had two children from a previous union.
Together they will have a girl and a boy.
The family lives in a small village in Beauvaisis and lives in the husband's house.
He owns a business that Michèle manages with him.
But quickly comes harassment.
He constantly belittles her, humiliates her, wants to control her every move.
An ordeal that will last several decades.
“He said he was going to kill me”
“I didn’t want my loved ones, my parents or my children, to know,” she sighs today.
So, for a long time, she remained silent.
“I never said anything, I hid it.
But it went too far.
He put tags on my car to watch me.
He was following me.
One day he shot a gun outside, he said he was going to kill me.
The gendarmes came to check if he had weapons but then left.
Then one day he punched me in the face.
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The doctor and nurse who treat her are not fooled.
This episode of violence is not a one-off event.
“The nurse helped me file a complaint with the gendarmerie,” continues Michèle.
There, I died of shame.
It was in 2010. I didn't feel like I was being taken seriously.
Then, the same nurse introduced me to the France Victimes 60 association.”
At first reluctant, she eventually made up her mind.
“I didn't want to go, but my son, who had grown up, told me this sentence that I will never forget:
You choose, either you want to live, or you want to die.
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Also read “Monsieur had the locks changed”: victim of domestic violence, Joëlle, 70, is homeless
Overnight, Michèle leaves and decides to leave everything behind.
“I became homeless, my children took me in: I had nothing left, but the support groups helped me,” she breathes.
She then finds ears to listen and shoulders to lean on.
“I made friends with these women who understood me and didn’t judge me.
The association helped me find my lightness and build a new life for myself, she summarizes. I encourage women to speak, to leave.
It's amazing to finally be free.
Everything is possible, it's a question of choice.
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