Rania al-Baz is one of Saudi Arabia's best known TV presenters. She came to international attention when she allowed Saudi papers to print pictures of her after her husband had repeatedly hit her head against a floor, causing horrific injuries.
"A person who hates lives imprisoned in his hatred. He is the one torturing and destroying himself.
I have liberated myself from pain and the disfigurement of my face. I have liberated myself from many other things and have become happy.
I cannot deny that the incident was a watershed in my life. It changed me both from inside and outside. But as a human rights activist, I wanted, from the start, to turn this incident into a goal to reform society. I wanted to be the last woman to be battered. Many were beaten up before me, but I hoped I would be the last one to be almost beaten to death. It was physical as well as psychological violence."
"I don't feel like I'm a hero," Rania says. "… I feel that no woman should be a victim to her husband, or a victim in anyway. A woman should have the ability to choose her own destiny."
