Love from, Florence Grace

*Trigger warning. The following content discusses domestic abuse (physical, emotional, mental, sexual), self harm and eating disorders. If that content will trigger you, please do not read on* I've never had a partner hit me . I've never had a partner kick me . I never had a partner leave me with a black eye , or a bruised face that I needed to cover up with makeup in a desperate attempt to look 'normal'. What I have had has been far more subtle. Pushed in the stomach so hard I was sick, pinned to the bathroom wall by my throat, arms twisted up behind my back, 'restrained' on the floor, bruises on parts of my body that no one would see. Not once but twice, there ended up being a hole in the wall where my partner tried to scare me as though he was going to punch me, before veering off at the last second. I've had items of mine broken, a door slammed into my face, doors literally burst through because I'd locked myself away on the other side, resulting...

On Thursday (15th) I was humiliated in public by what I can only assume are friends, or at the very least acquaintances, of my ex boyfriend. You'll probably all know that at the start of this year, I split with my partner of five and a half years. It was very difficult for me but eventually, as is inevitable, I got over it. I moved on, I've met other guys, I've been having fun living my life as a single woman and just being "me" (I know, how cliche). So you can only imagine my surprise when I was walking home down a side alley on Thursday evening after working an eight hour shift at work when I was confronted with a group of young lads. Now, my eye sight isn't perfect and I can't see that far in front of my face but what I could see is that they looked younger than me- perhaps aged between 16 and 18- some of whom were carrying skateboards. They all clocked me walking by, but I didn't really pay them much mind until: "Oi, there's Alex...