ABSTRACT
This chapter is the story of an abusive and dangerous period in the life of Fatima Porgho. Fatima’s experience was extreme; most marital rape is not as violent, sadistic, or persistent. Fatima shares her brutal experience to break the silence under which so many women suffer. Fatima describes her experience as a survivor of marital rape and examines how the misinterpretation of Islamic principles shaped her abuse. She sees religious principles as a source of life’s beauty, but when they are intentionally or even unintentionally misconstrued and abused, they become a source of great pain and sorrow. While the chapter is focused on conceptualizing sexual violence in marriage, it begins with this narrative because feminist theorizing is grounded in lived experience. This narrative of sexual and spiritual abuse is also a story of survival through asylum. Escaping her homeland of Burkina Faso and seeking asylum in the United States was a long and difficult process.
