Welcome to strangers from KCW and Radiotopia.

I'm Leah Tau.

And today's show has some violence and disturbing moments,

so please use discretion, especially if you have kids around.

Here is Annie Bradley in Toronto.

I grew up in this very beautiful part of the world.

It's about an hour and a half north of Toronto.

You know, it's woods and rocks and trees and forests.

So it was a pretty lonely place to grow up because we lived out in the middle of nowhere.

But at the same time, my brother and I sort of had the run of the land. And that created a

strong sense of self that I was able to take care of myself and that I was able to make decisions

for myself. I always had an opinion. I was never afraid of voicing it. But there comes a time when that

becomes perceived as willfulness. Both my parents

are very deeply religious and conservative. So when I got into high school, I started to have

sort of a disconnect between myself and my father and his version of what women are supposed to do and what women are supposed to be.

I remember when I was a teenager and we were having one of our frequent arguments and he said,

you know, someday some man is going to have to save you like I saved your mother.

From, you know, having an opinion and

being willful. And here I was this good kid. You know, I told the truth. I was ethical. I was like

an excellent student. I didn't drink. I didn't smoke. I didn't party. But no matter how hard I tried

at being what I thought would make my family happy, it never really

seemed to make my father satisfied. Because even though I did all of those things, I still had an

...