The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of women victims of domestic violence. The study entailed phenomenological research based on the theoretical framework of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, developed with ten women who were victims of domestic violence treated at a women's healthcare center in a municipality in the interior of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Nuclei of meanings emerged from the statements, based on the analysis of the phenomenon of violence from the interviews, and led to the following themes: living with fear; living with physical injuries; and the decision to file a report after the violence experienced. The results showed that the experience lived and contained in these women's bodies enabled each one of them to evaluate their own existence, arousing the desire to leave the situation in order to exercise their role in the world. Thus, their bodies instrumentalized their beings, and allowed them to break the cycle of domestic violence.
Domestic violence; Violence against women; Women's health; Qualitative research