8. Surviving gender based violence
You have nearly completed the resource and the final words are from a survivor. There are links to more digital stories like this in the resources at the end.
A survivor’s story:
Listen to some words from a survivor.
My doctor referred me. She was absolutely unbelievable. She took it very seriously. At this point I had been to every service and no-one cared. I was really down and didn't know who to turn to. There I was homeless with the kids and I just thought ‘someone is going to help me now’.
She (advocate) came out to see me. To be honest she gave me all the information. Lots of leaflets and made me fully aware of all the choices. She gave me options as well and said you don’t have to go ahead with anything. I was really happy with her to be honest. She was really helpful. She listened to me and gave me advice and I am really pleased with her.
The abuse got worse and worse and I picked up one of the leaflets with the helpline contact number. At first I was too scared to call, I couldn't do it and then one day it all got too much and I thought ‘I have to do something?' It’s the first in my entire life where I can put myself first, where I will not accept abuse...”
"You can start again, you can make new experiences and you can deal with them cos you’re given the appropriate tools.”