MARTA'S STORY
HELPING-HAND 2022
GENDER JUSTICE salvationarmy.org.uk/helpinghand2022
I was born and raised in Tres Arroyos. I had a happy childhood. My parents were good people, hard workers. They always provided for us, so we had everything we needed. I got married at 16 years old and we were married for around 26 years before we started to have some issues. We stopped getting along, and the aggression began. It was psychological manipulation, but I couldn’t see it at the time. One day we were having lunch and talking, when one of our daughters said something that upset my husband. The whole situation escalated very quickly, and he threatened her with a knife. We all ended up fighting and our son punched my husband for threatening to hit his sister. We called the police, and I left the house with my children. We went to stay with my mum. But the manipulation continued. He kept texting me, telling me that he was going to kill himself. I took pity on him and went back to live with him. It wasn’t a good decision because things only got worse. What he really wanted was our children to come back and live with him, but they didn’t want that. The only one that came back was my son because he felt that he needed to protect me. If it hadn’t been for my son, I don’t know if I would be alive today. Eventually, I was able to leave. I found out about the Salvation Army group and have been attending for the past couple of years. Before, I felt like I had to carry everything with me and that I had no one to talk to so this became the place where I could let a little bit of that out. The group has really helped me to develop my self-esteem and to value who I am. Now, I want to help others too. When I encounter people that seem to be going through a similar situation, I invite them to the group. I want them to know that there is always a way out. There are people who can help. You have to be brave.
