Ana fights. Priscila flees. Judith freezes.
All three are survivors of domestic violence and immigrants who will take the stage in Tucson to tell, in their own words, about the moment their lives changed forever.
In “The Myth of the Perfect Victim,” each one performs a monologue inspired by her own story. They challenge the idea that there is only one way to respond to violence and question the stereotypes that often turn survivors into objects of judgment.
“What we are trying to explain here is that when your body, your nervous system, is under threat, it automatically responds in three ways: fight, flight or freeze,” says Imelda Esquer, the creator of the play and a survivor of domestic violence. These responses can lead a person to fight back, flee from the threat or become unable to move or respond.
However, not all of these responses receive the same social acceptance.
“Often, freezing or walking away can be considered, by society and by the system, as a more appropriate reaction. But fighting is not considered an appropriate reaction,” she says firmly.
That difference in social perception can have profound consequences for women who try to defend themselves.
“You go from being a victim to being a criminal,” Imelda continues, as the words come one after another with a speed that is almost impossible to follow.
Imelda is the founder of CreSer, a nonprofit organization created in Tucson in 2025 to support immigrant women and their families through free English classes, GED tutoring and workshops on gender-based violence and identity.
It also provides participants with a weekly space for relevant conversations and reconnecting with their past through a monthly dance night featuring music from the 1980s and 1990s, in addition to using art as therapy.
The play is CreSer’s most recent initiative. There will be two performances: Sept. 4 and Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. at Live Theatre Workshop. Admission is $10.
From experience to the stage
The idea for the play was born from Imelda’s own experience as a survivor of domestic violence and from the years she spent listening to other women’s stories.
Born in the Sonoran town of Magdalena de Kino, Imelda arrived in Tucson in 1992 and is about to turn 56.
“My birthday is on the exact day of the play, Sept. 4,” she says with a warm little laugh.
A year ago, Imelda led workshops at CreSer that explored the myth of the perfect victim, the idea that a person must fit the stereotype of a victim for others to believe that they experienced violence. Based on that experience and on the testimonies of some workshop participants, she looked for a way to convey the information using art as a tool to inform and heal.
She structured the play around different elements that influence the intergenerational transmission of domestic violence: the legal system; psychology; prejudice; and exposure to a violent environment during childhood.
Then, Imelda identified women among the CreSer workshop participants who could be part of the play. She invited them, interviewed them and turned their stories into monologues.
The goal of the play, Imelda explains, is to raise awareness and educate the public about the effects of domestic violence and show that we are all part of a system that can generate both risk factors and opportunities for prevention.
Through the play’s weekly rehearsals, the participants have worked collectively to incorporate adjustments and ideas that have emerged throughout the process.
“I firmly believe that we need to be creative in finding different ways to convey messages as sensitive as domestic violence and make them a little more engaging,” Imelda says.
That is how Ana, Priscila and Judith helped build their monologues. Edith, Nydia and Nerza form a chorus that repeats social stereotypes. Etty Collins is the judge and Ana González is the psychologist. The role of the girl Romina represents the breaking of intergenerational violence, and Cristina is in charge of production.
“I told them: ‘You experienced this violence. Years ago you froze, fled or defended yourself. I am doing this project,’” Imelda says. “‘Would you like to perform your own monologue in a play?’”
A play that seeks to open a conversation
Both performances will be in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation into English. At the end of the play, there will be a panel discussion with special guests who will extend the conversation to the audience.
The discussion will include Lisa Kiser, an associate clinical professor in the University of Arizona’s Nurse-Midwifery Program; Jennifer Rose Saxton, a forensic nurse specializing in sexual assault at the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (SACASA); Roxanna Martinez, a supervisor at Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse; and Daniela Muñoz Álvarez, manager of the Scaling Safety initiative in Tucson.
Imelda knows there will be much to discuss. Data from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center shows that in the United States, one in five women has experienced rape or attempted rape, while 81% report having experienced some type of harassment or sexual assault during their lifetime. Forty-three percent of men have also reported harassment or assault.
Between judgment, the mind and the system
In the play, the stories unfold in a place called “Café Doble Moral,” where survivors share their experiences through monologues. But their voices are not alone. Each testimony is interrupted by a chorus representing society, which questions, judges and blames those who experience violence.
- “Why didn’t she leave?”
- “Why did she freeze?”
- “She’s not a victim because she hit him too.”
- “How could she do nothing?”
The play also incorporates a clinical perspective through the psychologist character, who intervenes during the monologues to explain the body’s reactions to trauma.
For example, when one of the survivors recounts an experience in which she froze and says, “So many days passed and I can’t remember,” the psychologist interrupts the scene to explain: “What we just heard is a trauma response in which the body freezes.”
From there, she explains why some people may freeze as a survival mechanism.
There is also the figure of the judge, who represents the judicial system and shows how institutions respond to certain cases of domestic violence.
In one of the monologues, a woman remembers: “He was incarcerated, but he got out the next day.” Then the judge intervenes: “If he pays bail, he gets out.”
Imelda said audience members will also be able to see a performance by the A Todo Folklor dance group and local singer Lucy Coronado.
Breaking the cycle
During an interview one morning in August, Imelda pauses and takes a breath before talking about the ending of the play. Not everything is darkness, she says.
The character of Romina represents many children who grow up around these experiences, but she also points to a new beginning and the possibility of breaking the cycles of violence passed from one generation to the next.
During the monologues, Romina remains seated in an armchair, wearing her headphones, as a way of protecting herself from what is happening around her.
As the survivors tell their stories, the girl writes in her journal. But when the monologues end, she takes off her headphones and approaches one of them. She takes her hand and leads her off the stage as a song about a better tomorrow plays.
The song accompanying this moment is “Mañana,” performed by Mexican singer Gloria Trevi, who has also spoken publicly about her experience as a survivor of violence.
The lyrics say:
“Y mañana, mañana, mañana / Que salga el sol / Y estemos los dos / Enamorados de la mano / Te diré que hay más mañana”. (And tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow / May the sun come out / And may the two of us be together / Holding hands in love / I’ll tell you that there is more tomorrow.)
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