Mother Fights Back on Domestic Violence

Martínez with her 3-year-old daughter, Arianny Marie. (Javier Ocaño)

Crusita Martínez  two days before the brutal attack that would change her life forever. (Javier Ocaño)

Crusita Martínez after her ex-boyfriend kidnapped, raped and threw battery acid and urine on her when she refused to take him back. (Javier Ocaño)

Martínez's positive attitude is something that Colombian-American filmmaker Monica Gutierrez is hoping will come across in “The Face of a Woman: A True Story of Triumph Over Tragedy,” a documentary about how she turned her life around. (Javier Ocaño)

She had well over 20 procedures done over the years. During those years of treatment, she met César Muñiz. The couple met at Muñiz’s cousin’s house and talked all night. “I started to see who she was on the inside, not the outside,” Muñiz said. (Javier Ocaño)

One in four women worldwide will experience some form of domestic violence in their lifetimes. Martínez said if she had the chance to see her attacker again face to face, she would ask him why he did what he did. “It’s not so much that I’ve forgiven him; it’s more that I never held onto my anger,” she said. “Instead of feeling like a victim, I decided to raise my voice and be heard.” (Javier Ocaño)

Martínez is an activist, speaking to women in shelters and to girls at high schools about the dangers of domestic violence. (Javier Ocaño)

Colombian-American filmmaker Monica Gutierrez said of Martínez: “There’s more to a woman than just a face. Society looks at the face but there’s the spirit; there's who she is. Even though Crusita lost her face, she never lost her soul.” (Javier Ocaño)