Increased risk of abuse - Aliona's Story
Meet Aliona, an orphan who was poorly educated and lived in poverty. She fell pregnant but the father didn’t want to know. She then married another man and was soon giving birth to her second child. This relationship was violent, fuelled by his addictions to drugs and alcohol, increased by his anger at the ‘wrong sex’ of Aliona’s second born.
A person is more likely to experience domestic violence if...
They are pregnant (or have recently given birth), are female aged between 16-25 years old, they live in poverty and have partners who abuse alcohol or drugs - Aliona experienced all these factors.
Thankfully, Aliona had the Women’s Crisis Centre to turn to.
Alina, who manages the WCC, says Aliona's experience is very common for orphans. Their desire for a family is huge but having no real relationship experience to draw from, toxic and dangerous acquaintances are often made.
Now aged 23, Aliona has been at the WCC since April with her two daughters where she is counselled, taught life skills and is working on her self-esteem.
Last year over 400,000 children still lived in institutions and 12 million lived below the poverty line. This, with the lack of criminal consequences for domestic violence, goes some way to explaining why so many Russian women are abused each year.
The WCC gives hope to many destitute women and their children… We desperately need donations from people like you to keep this ministry going. It survives on small donations from the community and even smaller contributions from the residents who can work. Our support makes up the majority of funding that keeps them afloat, so they are relying on us.
Thank you for reading about Aliona's experience today. She is one of many.