SAN DIEGO — A Hispanic woman says she endured years of emotional and financial abuse at the hands of her ex-husband who threatened her with her immigration status.
The mother says she fought for protection but couldn’t get the courts to listen until a nonprofit took her case.
“He was dating other women inside my house," said Lizeth.
She is a mother of three and says she faced years of emotional and financial abuse from her now ex-husband.
For her protection CBS 8 is not publishing her full identity. The husband has not been arrested or charged.
“I would walk one mile with the food because I didn’t have any money to take a bus,” said Lizeth.
Through a translator, Lizeth says she filed a restraining order against her husband, but the court denied her application. Lizeth says she feared the abuse would get physical.
“I went home, and I thought about it. When do I come back, when I go to the hospital?” said Lizeth.
As she continued to navigate the complicated and costly judicial system, the disrespect in her home got worse.
“When I saw that he was dedicating songs to his girlfriend in front of the family, me being present, where is my dignity? This is more for my own dignity,” said Lizeth.
She knew her worth and says she didn’t give up, despite threats made by her husband and his family about her immigration status.
“I think life put me between a rock and a hard place and it was either file that restraining order and kick him out or let him hurt me,” said Lizeth.
She felt helpless. She didn't have any family locally, and she didn’t have the money to fight this in court. It wasn't until she met attorney Ali Puente-Douglass with Legal Aid Society of San Diego, a nonprofit with clinics in all four courthouses, that she was finally able to get a restraining order against her husband.
“Sometimes just knowing how to say it to the court, how to put it down on paper, or how to organize your thoughts, makes a huge difference in the success of an application for a restraining order or any other kind of application before family, the family court,” said Puente-Douglass, managing attorney, LASSD Family Law team.
Being able to afford an attorney can be a barrier. Legal Aid is a nonprofit that doesn’t give out free legal advice, but through a comprehensive screening, eligible applicants can receive free representation.
“We want to be a part of that help. But part of that is empowering our clients who may have been disempowered through abuse to make those choices themselves,” said Puente-Douglass.
With the help of Legal Aid and Lizeth’s immigration attorney, she is now divorced, her family has more food on the table, and she kept her dignity.
“There is a way out, you can find resources and you can be helped,” said Lizeth. “I’m free.”
The Institute for Policy Integrity found that 83 percent of victims represented by an attorney successfully obtained a protective order, as compared to just 32 percent of victims without an attorney.
WATCH RELATED: Legal Aid Society of San Diego provides legal services to lower-income residents (Sept. 6, 2023)