‘At Least You’re Young Enough to Start Again’: What Not to Say to a Friend Getting Divorced at Thirty
‘The Scarcity of Positive Representation Distorts Reality’: Recognising Abuse in Lesbian Relationships
It’s in the little things – the missed classes, the unwinding friendships, the interests that you’ve picked up because it makes sense. You can’t be alone because why would you be? You can’t make your own decisions because this is a partnership. Things that had consecrated themselves so deeply in your identity, in your very being, lose their importance and one day you look in the mirror and what you see isn’t a reflection of yourself but of your relationship…
How To Recognise The Signs of Coercive Control and Regain Your Sense of Self After Abuse
Although awareness has increased in recent years around coercive control and there has been more education on what this level of abuse entails, there is a gap in the literature on how we can recover and reclaim our identity after escaping this trauma. The first step in recovering from coercive control is understanding the severity of it and recognising it as abuse. It should not be underestimated...
‘If You Don’t Understand What It’s Like to be Sexually Abused, that is a Privilege’: To The First Boy I Loved After My Assault
Instead of doubting you, I doubted myself. It wasn’t until I heard what you did to other women that I felt like what had happened to me was valid. In all the sweet nothings I wanted you to whisper to me, you decided you wanted nothing to do with me. Our relationship lasted two-hundred-eighty-one days. You burned everything; you burnt me with it…