In “Agencia Creciente” (“Growing Agency”), Ana Avila tells her story of domestic abuse, and the growing agency from obtaining a restraining order to feeling physically safe until emotional freedom and healing came. Ana continued to cultivate this agency as she worked with battered women at GIRÉ, a human rights feminist organization in Mexico City.

In “Agencia Creciente” (“Growing Agency”), Ana Avila tells her story of domestic abuse, and the growing agency from obtaining a restraining order to feeling physically safe until emotional freedom and healing came. Ana continued to cultivate this agency as she worked with battered women at GIRÉ, a human rights feminist organization in Mexico City. Through courageously sharing her story, Ana and CIC promote collective healing, where survivors of abuse stand up in solidarity together. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra interviewed Ana, and with Ana’s permission, composed this piece as an alternative means of telling a story that can be too difficult to tell in words alone. Filmmaker Brielle Bonetti joined the CIC team, and is currently working on a short documentary to tell the story of “Agencia Creciente,” which has global resonance.