Sachiko Nakajima was 20 years old when she began what should have been an ordinary college romance.
But it was anything but ordinary. The first time Nakajima's boyfriend attacked her they had not even been together a month. Afterward, he cried, saying didn't mean to do it, she recalled.
"He dragged me by the hair and repeatedly pounded my head against a concrete wall. He stopped only when I pretended to lose consciousness." said Nakajima, describing just one of the many times he hurt her. "The beating and kicking took place so often that I lost count."