Just over a year ago, I arrived at a Safe Horizon shelter at 2 A.M, in the rain, holding my 11-month old daughter, Erhaa. Earlier that night, I thought my husband was going to kill me.
In 2024, I moved to New York from Bangladesh to be with my husband and begin a new life together. We were friends in school, but being married to him was different. He began to use control tactics on me. I was in my final year of studying to be a dentist but he insisted that I drop out of school. He dictated what I wore, when I ate, and when I slept. I didn’t have a bank account. I felt like a prisoner.
That evening, we had a fight over some household chores. He told me to go to our room. He came in, locked the door, held my throat and pushed me to the bed. His knees were on my face and his hands were on my neck.
I could see in his eyes that he had gone beyond being aware of what he was doing. He wouldn’t know if he was killing me.
Something stopped him and he left the room. I knew I had only one chance. I raced to the window and I yelled for help.
We were in a basement apartment and I could see the feet of a group of people walking past. I yelled out that my husband had just tried to kill me, that I needed them to call 911. They did.
It was a group of young people, teenagers, who heard my call for help. I felt lucky—I think young people know that we have a responsibility to each other. They waited with me until the police arrived. The police got me and Erhaa to a hospital safely.
A social worker suggested that I call the Safe Horizon Hotline. I made the call.
I didn’t know what a domestic violence shelter would be like. I imagined a room crammed with bunk beds and strangers. But Safe Horizon staff made me feel so safe and welcome with my own small apartment, clean and furnished with a highchair ready for Erhaa.
I got set up with the appointments I needed both to stay safe in the moment, and to move ahead with my future. Safe Horizon helped me get a restraining order against my husband and provided therapy and counseling for me. They gave me gift cards so I could purchase the basics for me and my daughter. Through their Family Justice Center, I was able to get custody of my daughter and apply for public assistance.
In just over six months, Safe Horizon helped me secure long-term housing. I had come in with nothing and left with 20 bags of things that belonged to me, and a chance to start a new chapter of my life.
Now we live in a two-bedroom apartment. We have a small group of close friends who adore Erhaa. I plan to go back to my medical studies when Erhaa starts school.
Everything that I do, I do for her. If I didn’t have Erhaa, I wouldn’t have survived. And now, she has a chance at a safe and full life, where she can be whoever she wants to be.
Safe Horizon helped me give that to her. Please support them if you are able to. I know, firsthand, that it can change someone’s world.