It's a film about domestic violence “not recommended for fragile people and minors due to the cruelty of the violence suffered by women“. The documentary “You have to cut from the root” is projected this Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at Rocher de Palmer in Cenon. Directed by the professor of cinema and anthropology at the University of Bordeaux Dragoss Ouédraogo, this feature film “brings into dialogue the courageous testimonies of ten women of different ages, origins and conditions”. Some live in Bordeaux, Le Haillan, Bourg-sur-Gironde or even in the Médoc. All of them have experienced the horror of psychological, sexual, physical, economic violence, harassment, even attempted murder, events which sometimes lasted for several decades of living together.
Marie-Christine: “I got pregnant, I took my first slap”
Marie-Christine, 55, is one of ten women who testify on camera. This resident of Villenave d'Ornon says she experienced unspeakable things with the father of her daughter. “I stayed with this man for more than 20 years. It started with thoughts like – Ah, today you're not dressed very well, then your hair is bad. And the day I told him said I was pregnant, that's when I took my first slap. I went through a horrible pregnancy. he choked me, kicked me, punched me in the stomach. It was every day, several times a day. Once he threw me against a refrigerator, I suffered several cracks in my vertebrae.”
Attacked with a knife or an iron, Marie-Christine also declares having suffered marital rape and repeated death threats. “Unfortunately, this is becoming our normal. One day, he wanted to throw a punch, our daughter intervened, she was the one who got the punch. And then I said stop, I'm going to file a complaint. He told me – I'm going to kill you, I don't know when I'll kill you, I'll end up with the cops, I don't care, but I will kill you.“Marie-Christine then had to lead another long and difficult fight to obtain justice. Her ex-husband was finally tried at the Bordeaux Assize Court on December 20 and 21, 2018. Sentenced to three years in prison, the accused was convicted of aggravated battery but acquitted of marital rape charges “for the benefit of the doubt”.
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Fatima: “I was without papers, he told me that if I filed a complaint, I would be deported”
“It was insults, beatings almost every day, sometimes until I lost consciousness.” Fatima, 44, is the mother of two children. This resident of Villenave d'Ornon also experienced a nightmare with her ex-husband. “He hit me for any pretext. Once, it was a neighbor who saw me through the window who called the police. But I was without papers, he scared me by telling me that if I went to file a complaint with the police, they would deport me with my little boy.”
Even ten years after the events, Fatima holds back her tears when she talks about this violence. “He did really bad things to me. It's not someone who just slapped me or pushed me or not, no, it's someone who almost killed me. There are things you can't forget. Never in life. For example, I avoided passing through this city where I was before. I even remember the places he hit me. I was there and he did this to me and he did this to me here. These are places I can't pass. If I go there, I start to cry.”
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