Summary
Highlights
Angélica arrived in Spain in 2024, joining her partner who had been there for seven months. Initially, his family did not approve of her. They ended up living on a farm, working long hours for meager pay, which Angelica found uncomfortable due to the owner's suspicious activities. They then moved to another farm, facing similar exploitation and false accusations from their hosts.
Angélica's partner found undeclared work, and during his first day, the hostess verbally abused Angélica, questioning her entrepreneurial background. Feeling humiliated, Angélica decided to leave for the city, seeking refuge in a shelter. Her partner joined her, and it was in this shelter that he relapsed into drug addiction, consuming stronger substances than in Colombia, which turned him aggressive.
Before traveling, Angélica's partner had threatened her if she came to Spain, a warning she overlooked. In Barcelona, Angélica found a job at a Pakistani shop, where she faced severe sexual harassment from both the father and son who owned the shop. The father explicitly offered to waive her room rent if she engaged in sexual acts. Fearing for her safety, she called her partner to join her, hoping his presence would deter the harassers. When her partner arrived, his aggression resurfaced, leading to a public altercation and police intervention. Despite the police warning him, Angélica, out of a misguided sense of loyalty, chose to stay with him.
During this tumultuous period, Angélica became pregnant. She hoped this would change her partner's behavior, but the violence continued, exacerbated by the ongoing drug use. After she reported the sexual harassment to the police, she and her partner were forced out of their accommodation. They spent two months living on the streets, enduring harsh winter conditions while Angélica was pregnant. Despite having options to secure shelter for herself, she chose to stay with him, feeling obligated and fearing his family's judgment if she left him alone.
After two months on the streets, with the help of a kind Spanish couple, they returned to Asturias, where more support for homeless individuals was available. However, her partner's aggressive behavior persisted. Angélica sought help from a Christian pastor, describing her partner's violence and drug addiction. The pastor, seeing Angélica's bruises, tried to intervene, but her partner remained resistant to change.
The abuse culminated in a public assault at the shelter, prompting the staff to call the police. Faced with the threat of deportation for both if she did not cooperate, Angélica finally pressed charges. She was moved to a foundation for abused women, receiving protection and support. Her partner, failing to secure legal representation, was deported three days after their child was born. He had mistakenly believed that recognizing the baby, who would be a Spanish citizen, would prevent his deportation.
Despite the order of protection, Angélica maintained contact with her ex-partner due to their child, but he continued to blame her for his deportation and verbally abuse her. Angélica is currently unemployed but receives 500 euros monthly from the Spanish government as part of a program for victims of gender-based violence. She supplements her income by selling homemade Colombian food, like lechona and tamales. She advises other women to report abuse immediately, acknowledging that she clung to the hope that her partner would change, a belief she now realizes was misplaced. Angélica hopes her ex-partner will seek help for his addiction and aggression, for his own sake and their child's future.