Escape from a domestic hell

By Andrew Stone

The setting for this New Zealand horror story is the not-so-sweet home.

The bashing of "Marie" took place in the supposed security behind her front door.

It began after her second husband became upset when she quit her job to care for their daughter. Family income fell and he drank heavily, calling her stupid.

The taunts turned to thumps.

When he hit her, "Marie" would curl up in a ball: "I was terrified. It was totally debilitating."

Like many victims, she hid the violence, even from her family. But when she was hit in front of her children, she struck back, raking her husband's face.

When she became sick with pneumonia, her doctor recognised the signs of abuse and put her in touch with counsellors.

Marie left the marriage, but like many separated women, she faced a menacing episode when her ex turned up drunk, threatened the children with a knife and warned that he would kill himself.

She calls herself fiercely independent now, though she cannot forgive the emotional scars left on her children.