ROCHESTER, N.Y. — In 2023, 13 people were killed as a result of domestic violence in Monroe County. On Wednesday, community leaders discussed what they can do to support victims — and a large part of that was hearing from survivors themselves.

News10NBC’s Antonina Tortorello spoke to a survivor who is now out of a situation she never thought she could escape.

The first time Amy Adams says she experienced domestic violence was when she was 14. A partner asked her to be intimate and when she said no, she was raped.

Adams says she was terrified to tell her family at the time, worried they would be disappointed, so she didn’t. Keeping this inside, she says, gave her trauma and anxiety with which she didn’t know how to deal.

Years later, Adams found herself in a very dangerous situation with someone she thought was a different person. She says she suffered all different kinds of abuse in every shape and form each day.

After a night of staying in her bathroom for seven hours, she decided it was time to get help. She texted the Willow Domestic Violence Center’s hotline, made a safety plan and left.

“This is not the end. You are not stuck. You may feel stuck, you may feel like no one is going to understand why you stayed, and that’s okay,” Adams said. “Thank God for places like Willow and the FJC (Family Justice Center) and Survivor Voices of Rochester. I wouldn’t be there without any of them.”

Adams is now the co-chair of Willow’s “Survivor Voices of Rochester” support group. She says the support, friendship and programs she found after reaching out helped save her life.

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