Fatima is a 41-year-old bank manager whose husband has been emotionally and financially abusing her over the 12 years they stayed married. She had three girls and the inability to give birth to a male child was one of the frequent sources of emotional harassment from him and his family. He was critical of everything she did or did not do – from her dressing and fashion style, to her cooking, her parenting of their daughters, and so on.
Her career progress was belittled and referred to derogatorily as making her less of a good wife and a good mother. Over time, she gradually became less confident in her decision making and her choices. She started second guessing her every decision and wondered if she was truly not good enough for him and his family.
When she complained about his harsh critical comments, he would switch to the cold treatment and stop talking to her completely. After a few years of marriage, she had become reclusive and started treatment for depression. After several episodes of depressive illness, it was when she finally started therapy sessions that it dawned upon her that she had been experiencing emotional abuse which had taken its toll on her mental health.
The therapist invited the husband for couple sessions but he refused. He insisted that there was nothing wrong with him and that she was the one that needed fixing. She eventually concluded that for her peace of mind, she needed to be by herself and she filed for divorce.
That was when all hell was le.