Diana Hopeson
Veteran gospel artiste, Diana Hopeson, has shared the pain she endured during her first marriage, which lasted seven years, as a result of domestic violence and abuse, while staying silent due to pressure to save the marriage.
Formerly known as Diana Akiwumi, the renowned gospel singer, speaking during a panel discussion at the official launch of ‘Women of Valour’ themed “Creating Safe Spaces: How Media, Activists, and Policy Makers can Collaborate to Protect Women and Girls,” disclosed that she endured seven years of physical and emotional abuse from her partner without speaking up.
“At 21, I got married. My husband was the youngest servant of God minister. He was 22. I thought, when two Christians get married, it will be all roses. I mean, there shouldn’t be any issues, because we all serve God together.
“But I was far from wrong. It was a mental problem, but we didn’t know, because this is a man of God who could prophesy, who was well-built, handsome. So for seven years, I realised that I need to leave. I endured it for seven years, and throughout the journey, he was my manager. So as a manager with this situation, I don’t have to talk to anybody,” she shared.
Diana Hopeson further added that due to the intensity of the abuse, she did not smile at anybody, saying, “I mean, I don’t touch the phone, even driving. I can’t learn… I mean, I’m with him all the time. The way he calls me, you know I was scared. So I mean, outside, everybody knew she had made a big hit. Everybody knows the name, but at home I was enduring violence.”
She added that, “when we go out and I will talk, I have to make sure, even at home when I will talk, I have to make sure there’s a big distance, because if I talk l will be beaten.
“I realised that I was dying, he even said that he’s going to get a gun. He will shoot me and kill himself. And the week before, we went to the National Theatre programme, and when we were coming back, he threatened to hit the car against one abandoned truck so we all die, that was the moment I said no to his abuses.”
Diana Hopeson called on women to muster the courage to speak up and report any form of abuse to the nearest police station or seek help from other organisations.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke