Domestic Abuse
Domestic Abuse
Case Study: Inayah
Inayah was rejected by her community when she became pregnant outside of marriage. Although Abbas had already shown signs of being controlling, Inayah felt the only way to be accepted by her community was to marry him. Abbas would regularly hide the car keys or leave the house when he was meant to watch their children so Inayah could not go to work. Abbas would threaten her with violence and told her he would take the kids away if she left him. When Inayah told her parents what was happening they refused to let her stay with them and blamed her for what happened. They gave her tips on how to be a better wife. One night, Abbas violently attacked Inayah in front of their children. She managed to escape shortly after and took the children to the local refuge.
Abbas started showing up at Inayah's work and called her extension repeatedly. He sent his friends to threaten her when security denied him access to the building. Abbas had people follow Inayah home from work. Inayah was embarrassed and worried that her employer was annoyed with the situation. Inayah asked her employer not to contact the police as she felt it would make the situation worse. Inayah decided to quit her job. She has now moved six times to escape Abbas, and as a result, her career has been disrupted and she is working lower-paid, and often insecure, jobs which are below her skill level.
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