Three years after Mavis (not her real name) fled the only home she knew in a desperate attempt to escape an abusive partner, a new live-in partner died after a bout of illness and she later found out that she was HIV positive.
“Abuse is something I know about. I run from he [her partner] because I went to the court and even get a order but he still jump in me house and I just pack me bags and lef because I know is dead I woulda dead. But then I get with this man and he dead and then I know I get HIV…,” the 56-year-old woman shared with the Sunday Stabroek recently.
The man died in 2011 and since then, Mavis said, she has been fighting the battle of her life to keep the piece of land she owns. She was already forced to relinquish the land and house he owned to his relatives, but she had a piece of land with a small house just next door.