“I only wanted to live with dignity,” said Hanaa, a 35-year-old survivor of gender-based violence who recently received support at a UNFPA- supported Safe Space.
Hanaa lost her mother at the age of three. Growing up, she was also subjected to physical and psychological violence by her stepmother, with whom she lived for over a decade. Like many girls in her community, the violence took the form of a vicious cycle that consistently worsened as she entered adolescence, with devastating consequences that continue to impact her life well into adulthood.
At age 13, Hanaa was forced to marry. By the time she was in her early twenties, she had given birth to seven children, buried two of them after they had been killed by the hostilities, and survived being raped by member of her husband’s family. Of all of these, she says it was the loss of her children that was the most painful, but it was also a turning point in her journey.
“After the death of my children, I felt that I had nothing left to lose. I decided to leave my husband, face society and the constant stigma, and transform my life to regain my independence,” she recalls. “It was at that point that point that I decided to visit the Safe Space. My focus was to move on with my life with my children and to shelter them from the violence and abuse that I’ve been facing my entire life.
“The psychosocial support counselor at the Safe Space worked with Hanaa for three months and encouraged her to register for two vocational training courses offered at the space — nursing and culinary training. “The programs completely changed my life,” she said.
After completing both courses, Hanaa was quickly able to launch her independent career. Today, she is a nurse by day and a seasoned chef in the evenings, making enough income to support herself and her children. She has also moved into a new home away from her abusers. For the first time since her early childhood, she feels hopeful and determined to make up for the years she had lost.
“I am genuinely impressed with the speed and determination with which Hanaa was able to reinvent her life on her own terms,” remarked the psychosocial support counselor at the Safe Space.
UNFPA-supported Safe Spaces provide a place where women and girls feel physically and emotionally safe, find the support needed to heal and grow, and learn vital skills to improve their life prospects. Impact assessments conducted by UNFPA have consistently shown that Safe Spaces make an enormous difference in the lives of women and girls, particularly in humanitarian settings where social networks and protection mechanisms are often disrupted.
