Woman of the Week: Alyona

At her lowest point, Alyona, from Siberia, Russia, had nothing to her name – no documents, no possessions, no money. Today she credits Avon with helping her build the financial cushion she needed to escape her abusive husband.

Alyona got married soon after graduation. Her husband had grown up in an abusive home and started abusing her shortly after they married. “It was always very loud, it was always very obscene. There were always terrible screams and yells,” she remembers.

“When my newborn son was two weeks old, I left my husband for the first time,” says Alyona. She moved in with her mother. However, a few months later, there was a fire. Alyona lost her mother and young nephew.

“I myself escaped by a miracle. I saved my child. He was seven months old at the time,” she says. “After that, I had nowhere to go. Me, with a small child. I had no documents, no clothes, nothing. So I had to go back to my husband.”

However, Alyona knew that she wanted to escape. She was working as an Avon Representative at the time. “I knew I needed to be financially independent and Avon is always with me. Avon supported me mentally, physically, and financially,” she says.

Alyona’s experience with Avon also helped her build her confidence. “On the eve of my departure, a regional conference was held in the city of Berdsk. And participation in this conference, the feeling of being involved in something so big. I realized: enough of this. I don’t want to live like this anymore,” she says. The next day, she left her husband – who attacked her as she was leaving.

After building her new life, Alyona slowly began feeling positive about the future. “After this happened, I started living for the first time in 11 years. Life began to play in different colours. My children and I have actually become free. We could go anywhere, do anything,” she says. “Today I can say that I look forward to the future with confidence.”

She adds, “I really hope that maybe my story will help someone gather their strength, gather their thoughts, stop putting up with what is happening, and get out, start a new life, go to a new stage. Don’t wait, don’t be patient, don’t be silent, look for support.”