In December 2004, my family introduced me to a man in hopes of arranging our marriage. He appeared to be a promising partner—a handsome doctor with a bright future in the United States. At the time, I had accomplished much in my professional career and was ready to get married, which is why I agreed [...]
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I married my sweetheart. We met when we were both 14 years old, just schoolchildren. He left for the United States a few years after we met and told me he intended to come back to El Salvador. But after he had gotten into enormous debt, he summoned me to join him there to help work it off.
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I always dreamed of the life I could have had, if only my father did not die when I was a baby. Unfortunately, I will never know how things could have been, because after his car accident, my life dramatically changed.
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Bianca* and her three young children fled their home in West Africa when her husband’s family was preparing to perform the ritual known as female genital mutilation on her two-year-old daughter as a “cure” for her recently diagnosed dwarfism (considered a curse by local customs).
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My marriage to Duri* was arranged by my parents with the best of intentions. I was excited and had always dreamed of getting married. After a six-month engagement, Duri and I were married near my home in India, with hundreds of guests in attendance. Both Duri and I were dentists, and the plan was for [...]
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Some people can think back to happy childhood days. But all of my memories are only of violence and misery.
My name is Rana* and I am from Saudi Arabia. I was orphaned at a young age and left to the mercy of my two violent and cruel older brothers, Sa’ad and Ghafoor. Even when [...]
I grew up in a small South African village. I went to college, and became a teacher after graduating. When the government planned to redeploy teachers, I was forced to look elsewhere. I had always dreamed of traveling to different countries, so friends suggested I apply for nanny positions.
A friend introduced me to a woman [...]
I first met my cousin, Asif*, when I was 14 and he came from the United States to Pakistan with his parents looking for a wife. Asif liked me and asked me to marry him. I was very happy and excited. He and his mother promised that Asif would take care of me and [...]
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Shaka* and I became engaged in my native Sudan. He was familiar with my political activities opposing the Sudanese government and knew that I chose not to wear a veil, even though I am a faithful Muslim woman. After we got married, I joined Shaka in Qatar, where he was living and working. But soon [...]
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Adam* proposed to me on Christmas Day. I was very happy. To celebrate, we went home and cooked together. I had liked Adam from the start—he enjoyed cooking my native Caribbean food with me, doing activities outdoors, and going out to the movies. Adam and I dated for several months, and eventually moved into the [...]
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