GLORIA is a refugee woman from West Africa. She registered with the License To Freedom in 2003. She disclosed to our staff that her husband is emotionally and verbally abusive to her.

Gloria actively participated in our program activities, making excellent progress:

• she participated in several domestic violence workshops organized by our project
• she became an active participant in our Monthly Domestic Violence Forum
• she registered for License to Freedom’s driver’s license education
• she passed written test and received a Learner’s Permit from the DMV
• she started working part-time
• in January of 2004, she started "behind-the-wheel” driving training and was getting ready to take her final driving test at DMV.

Suddenly, in the middle of January, Gloria stopped participating in our program activities and did not show up for her driving class. We tried to call her but her telephone was disconnected. She called us several weeks later. She told us that her husband did not like that Gloria was becoming independent and strong. He did not want to lose power and control over her. On January 19th, he beat her up. Gloria was ashamed to come to License to Freedom, or go out in public, with bruises on her face, and that is why she stopped participating in our program's activities. We helped Gloria to get legal advice and counseling through local Domestic Violence Legal Clinic. However, her situation got even worse. On January 28th, we received a collect call from Gloria. She was in jail. Her husband had obtained a Restraining Order against Gloria, based on his and his friends’ false testimony that Gloria threatened to hurt him and her children. Gloria ignored the Restraining Order and went to pick up children from baby-sitter. Her husband called the police and she was arrested for violating the restraining order. Gloria was devastated; she was in jail, she lost custody of her children, she was ashamed, and she was ostracized by her community.

License to Freedom’s advocates collected money to bail her out. Gloria received counseling and support from us. We found a pro-bono lawyer for her. For more then a month, her attorney, counselors, and our staff worked with the court, the prosecutor’s office, and with Child Protective Services. Finally, the judge ordered that the children be returned to Gloria and gave Gloria a Restraining Order against her husband. Gloria had proved that her husband's accusations were false.

Gloria is now separated from her husband. As a single mother who is a victim of domestic violence she could have applied for public assistance. She decided not to do it. She started working part-time.  Soon after that, she passed driving test, received Driver’s License and started working full-time.