The following interview covers topics of women's rights, surviving hardships, and building a positive community. These are sometimes difficult to discuss and hear about, but this project is designed to raise awareness and foster understanding of these issue. Please continue with an open mind and compassionate heart as we share these women’s stories.
Across the globe and in our own communities, women’s rights are under siege.
“Rights are being stripped away and a lot of people aren't seeing the severity of it — our reproductive rights, our identities, even the right to vote in some places. It’s like we’re going backward.”
Belladonna’s analogy is stark:
“It’s like bait on a fish hook. We’re given a little bit of progress — and then it’s ripped away.”
Still, she finds hope in the fire it’s igniting in women: a rising wave of resistance, unity, and determination.
Her personal story brings into focus the life-or-death stakes of women’s rights. Leaving an abusive relationship, she credits survival to a crucial mix of personal courage and outside help.
“If it wasn’t for friends, family, and Catalyst — a program for women in abusive situations — I probably would have never left.”
She emphasizes that recognizing abuse isn’t always easy:
“Without programs like Catalyst, I wouldn’t have gotten the full picture. I knew it wasn’t right, but I couldn’t name it. I couldn’t see it clearly.”
For women in similar situations, she offers this advice:
“Breathe. Move silently. Plan strategically. Leaving quickly can make things worse. Gather support. Protect your peace. You are allowed to leave — safely and with a plan.”
To Belladonna, autonomy is not just legal or bodily — it’s spiritual.
“When we feel safe, seen, and heard — when we love ourselves — something magical happens. We reconnect with who we are, with nature, with our intuition.”
But achieving that autonomy takes dismantling systems that tell women they are not enough.
“We are more than objects. We are not just bodies for others to use. We are whole people with purpose, thoughts, feelings — and power.”
Her story, filled with pain, triumph, clarity, and love, is a rallying cry to all of us — women and allies alike. To protect and advance women’s rights, we must:
-Educate ourselves and our children
-Support local women’s programs like Catalyst
-Build inclusive communities
-Reject misogyny — even in our closest circles
-Show up — for each other, for ourselves, for the future
“We are allowed to be who we want to be. We are allowed to take our power back.”
And we must — for every woman still silenced, still hurting, still waiting for the world to finally listen.
Belladonna
In a world that often demands silence, submission, and self-sacrifice from women, one woman’s voice breaks through with raw honesty, strength, and a clear message: women deserve autonomy, dignity, and unwavering support. Through her personal journey and unflinching reflections, she offers not only a powerful testament to the challenges women face, but also a blueprint fo
This simple but powerful statement sets the tone for everything she stands for. Women's rights, to her, are not abstract ideals — they are daily necessities. They mean safety from abuse, freedom from societal expectations, and the ability to make choices without shame or fear.
And yet, violations of these rights are alarmingly common.
“We can all pick an example of something — whether it's at the gas station with someone saying something inappropriate, or just walking out the door wondering if we’re ‘good enough.’”
The everyday nature of misogyny — subtle or violent — reveals just how normalized this reality has become.
Healing, Belladonna says, didn’t happen overnight.
“I dissociated. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I had to start over — relearn what I liked, who I was. And that’s okay.”
It’s a vulnerable admission that many women will recognize: recovery isn't linear, but it is possible.
Exercising her autonomy became an act of reclamation:
“I was raised to believe my body was for others’ pleasure. But after I left, I learned that my body is mine. I am not an object — I am a person with control, with value, with choice.
The backbone of her recovery and empowerment was — and still is — community.
“Support groups, programs, friends — they saved me. And not everyone has that. That’s why we need to build it.”
Strong female communities, Belladonna explains, are essential, but not always easy to form.
“We’re so isolated by technology and fear — fear of judgment, fear of not fitting in. But we have to push past that. We need spaces where women can love and uplift each other.”
Men are not bystanders in this fight — they are participants, for better or worse.
“Male allies need to look at themselves, unlearn misogyny, and actively create safe spaces. Speak up. Don’t be complicit.”
Allyship is not passive. It’s about action, introspection, and accountabilies.
True empowerment, she believes, begins with education.
“We need to overhaul the educational system. Teach girls from a young age that they are in control of their bodies, that they can say no, that they deserve respect.”
This also means teaching society to stop assigning women roles they didn’t choose.
“Society tells us to be mothers, wives, caretakers — and to put ourselves last. Then we’re left wondering, who’s going to take care of us?”
