Two Asian women have stepped out of the shadows to tell their horror stories about domestic violence in a bid to help others.

The duo talked exclusively to the Keighley News with a joint message to other women in the community that they no longer have to live in fear.

The Asian support worker at Domestic Violence Services (Keighley) praised the women, saying: "All domestic violence is horrific and unacceptable.

"But these women also struggled with the fear of being deported, the worry about shaming their families and problems with language.

"They want to show that these problems can be overcome and that we can help people like them."

The women, from Keighley, who the KN has decided not to name, both came to England to be married and were trapped into situations of abuse that caused them to live in fear.

One tells of a year-long ordeal where she was kicked like a football, beaten by her husband and his seven sisters while she was pregnant, and was finally hospitalised for two and a half months.

After one incident she was dragged upstairs and locked in an attic for two days, in agony and without food.

She tells of her fear of deportation and of shaming her family. She speaks about the help that she received and what Domestic Violence Services (Keighley) did for her.

The second survivor tells of her horror at being tricked back to Pakistan, where she was stranded for three and a half years.

She recounts her pain on being separated from her sons in England, as she felt her "heart had been torn out of her".

She was being used as a pawn in a family feud. On her return she had to fight for custody of her children.

It took more than a year for her sons to call her mother again. "They had been indoctrinated to swear at me and be horrible to me. Now we are content and settled in Keighley," she said.

Domestic Violence Services (Keighley) offered the two support on all levels, and they are now both settled in Keighley and enjoying a life free of fear.

"Without the Asian support workers at the Domestic Violence Services, it would be very very hard for me but they have really helped me through," says one.

The DVS worker added: "We want women to know we can really help them -- that there are all kinds of support available for them.

"They don't need to live in fear and be abused. It is at least worth making a phone call to see what we can offer them."

Read their harrowing stories in full on page 3