You fell in love with him for his passion, you were moved by his dependence on you, you enjoyed his impulsiveness, you were flattered by his possessiveness, you justified his excesses. You were scared when he hit you, you forgave him afterwards, his extreme reactions worried you, but you quickly forgot about them. You were surprised to realize that he has been arrested for various offenses quite a few times, it certainly wasn’t his fault. He had been through a lot, it was a bad time, he would get off the drugs, everything would be fine.
But he hit you again, raped you, threatened you, humiliated you and left. It was hard, but you did it. You knew you had to break your silence, you had heard that a lot is being done by the state to prevent and deal with gender violence, you had seen so many spots “you are not alone and you are not the only one”, you filed a lawsuit, injunctions were imposed on him, you were able to leave him behind and move on.
When you found him again in front of you, you froze. You thought that four years later the nightmare couldn’t return, that you were now out of danger, that you were free.
That night you saw him waiting for you outside your house. You wouldn’t take any chances, because you already knew how dangerous he is. You went straight to the police station with your friend to ask for help. You didn’t want to file a lawsuit, because what would be the point of a lawsuit anymore, you just wanted a patrol car to take you home so that he would know that he can’t do what he wants, that he will be arrested if he continues to harass you.
They told you to call Immediate Action for the patrol car to come – what protocols! – and you did. You were only a few meters away from the police station when they answered “100”. You were saying your home address when he gave you the first stab in the back.
The fifth femicide victim for 2024 did everything he had to, followed all self-protection instructions, left nothing to chance, showed trust in authorities, institutions and the state. She believed that there is now a support framework for women who are in such a situation, who are at risk, she thought she was not alone and she was wrong.
2024-04-02 18:51:35