Fleeing Syria to Lebanon was not easy, we had to literally run for our lives. I still remember how I made my youngest child run in his sleep after walking for two days, we would hide behind the olive trees as the aircrafts bombed above us. When we made it safely to Lebanon, I felt I couldn’t trust anyone around me, kept me silent and isolated for a long time until I met my neighbour and friend Mariam, who helped me to get out of the dark tunnel and to ensure me that there are still good people. Society tried to pressure me to get back to my husband because they don’t have faith that a single mom can take care of her herself as well as of her kids. I refused to surrender and subdue to the patriarchal system that deprived me from my freedom and self-respect. Women and men share the same right, to live in dignity and mutual respect, no human being should be suppressed under any kind of oppression.

I have been silenced for 17 years and now I have the opportunity to speak up and finally let it out, maybe someone will benefit from my experience. The worst thing to do when being oppressed is to remain silent, we should stand up for ourselves. A Doctor once told me, after she checked the bruises on my body and how my husband cut my hair, that if a baby doesn’t cry no one would feed him, meaning that one should speak up or else we would never be heard and so I did! Now I am living a peaceful happy life with my children.