Finally getting separated!

In December after an absolutely horrible quarrel where my ex-husband accused me of assaulting him, I finally decided this life wasn't safe for me or my daughter (I have been to court already about this assault charge, and this was dismissed. He has since contradicted his story in court and it's now clear that he lied and got away with the lie).

I called the Women's Shelter in Vienna (Frauenhaus) for help.   http://www.frauenhaeuser-wien.at/ 

 

By this time I had gone for help many times to various women's organizations in Austria - most of them simply offereing counselling, nothing more. The Frauenhaus, however, were very quick in the help afforded. They asked me if I would need the police to help me leave the apartment, whether i would need a taxi, and so on. The most important advice I got from them was to take all of my documents as well as my daughter's, and this they did while I was still on phone with them, ensuring I had taken all the most important ones. On the 03/12/2013 I found myself alone with my daughter, €400 to my name in a women's shelter in a foreign country, thousands of kilometers from people who cared about me. 

Important to mention here, while I was leaving my home, my ex-husband, on the advice of a friend, began divorce proceedings against me. He was cautioned by some friend of his that in doing this he would not lose his apartment to me, or have to pay my upkeep, or whatever.  As I left, I also found myself smack in the midst of a divorce. This was before he began calling and begging me to go back to him. I couldn't understand this, as he had filed the divorce himself. I was on the defensive. He told me to go together with him to court and cancel it. I refused. He then begged me not to take the apartment from him, or to ask for support, because he couldn't afford it. I assured him i was not interested in any of those things - I simply wanted a clean divorce. (My mistake number 1).