Honour and Shame: Breaking the Silence

Lena an Australian Palestinian young woman got caught t in a cultural web of honour and shame, imprisoned in a violent marriage, when she tried to escape, she suffered further abuse by the legal system. 'The thought of being abused scared me. I said to myself, 'No, I am not abused. Sami is just in a bad mood. He drank too much which affected his ability to perform and that must have upset him, thereby injuring his manhood From that day on, slapping became a ritual and routine for him. I was slapped for lots or no sugar in the coffee, the breakfast ten seconds late or two seconds earlier than expected, and for the food being too warm or too cold. All of a sudden, I had a sharp pain in my chest, and I felt hard to breathe. Sami's image threatening me passed in front of my eyes. I swallowed my words. I could not bring myself to say anymore. Fearing for my life, I had to tell Dad the truth. I told him what exactly happened right from the start, starting with the honeymoon and how Sami couldn't perform, how he threatened to expose me as not being a virgin, what his mother did to me, and how he used my menstrual blood to prove that he was a stud. 'The fact is that I am still a virgin, We arrived at the house where I would spend the next six months of my life as Sami's prisoner Leila was my strong rock . . . Every year, she would say, 'I am sure you will come back with me to Australia next year' There was always a 'next year' for Leila: 'next year you will come to Australia; next year we will be together forever; next year you will start university; next year' However, Leila's 'next year' never came.