I moved from Japan to the United States after falling in love with a man from the Middle East. We promptly got married and I was soon blessed with a child.

 

The bliss was short-lived though as he started hitting me whenever he was upset. We got divorced and my son stayed with him, as I was not even a legal resident in the US. My ex husband had never filled out the adjustment of status package which would have allowed me residency. 

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I was scared I was going to have to go back to Japan and leave my son, when eventually I met this smooth-talking American man. We fell in love and he asked me to move in with him, which I was happy to do.

 

The change in his attitude was almost immediate, however. He was a possessive man and because of it he refused to let me ever leave the house.

 

To ensure that I stayed home, he would force me to remain naked every single day. “You can’t go outside, if you don’t have any clothes on,” he would say.

 

He also wouldn’t be intimate with me past oral sex. I later learned that this was because he was gay. I found out when he brought his boyfriend to live at home. He moved me from the master bedroom to one of the guest bedrooms. His boyfriend hated me and treated me like a slave.

 

I was forced to cook and clean for them, all while nude. I also was barely fed. I survived on alcohol and bread alone. I still had a home, however, so I never complained. 

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Eventually, my boyfriend’s boyfriend got jealous of my residency in what he thought of as his home. Because it wasn’t easy for them to just kick me out so they concocted a plan to get rid of me.

 

After drugging me and beating me up they took me to a random park and left me on a bench. I woke up the next morning, bruised and all my front teeth missing. 

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The police who found me took me to a shelter. Through the shelter, I got in touch with BPSOS – Houston. My case manager took me to a dentist who managed to redo my teeth, pro bono. She also found me a place to stay and frequently took me to visit my son. The lawyers at BPSOS helped me apply for my U-Visa, which I got and I am on the right track to get my green card.

 

Both my ex-boyfriend and his boyfriend are currently serving their sentences in prison.