Love from, Florence Grace

*Trigger Warning. This post discusses sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape* As someone who has been a victim of abuse and a victim of rape/sexual abuse previously, I get a bit anxious around men I don't know. One of the worst things I have to do in life is get into a lift by myself, with no one I know, and every other person in the lift being a male. My palms get sweaty and clammy, my chest gets tight, I feel sick and generally unsafe. When I step out of the lift, it's like coming up for air after being held down under water for almost too long. It only happens when I don't know anyone else. If I'm in a lift with Jonny, with my friends or even with a male colleague, I'm totally fine. But if I know no one else in that lift, and am the only woman present, my mind tells me that I am not safe . Lifts are the worst. However, I get a little anxious walking past groups of men, or in front of men (one or more) or walking past men in clubs. In fact, in Ibiza ...

*Trigger Warning: Sexual abuse, sexual violence, rape, domestic abuse* Monday 5 th February to Sunday 11 th February is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week. I find sexual abuse and violence a particularly hard topic to speak about, because I am incredibly passionate about it. Unfortunately, my passion for the topic is not simply down to my compassion for those who go through it; it’s because I have been a victim of sexual abuse and violence myself. It isn’t something I speak about often, if at all. Only a handful of people in my life know anything about it, and whilst I have written an incredibly long and detailed post about my experiences, as a way of ‘healing’, I have never had the courage to press publish. There are a number of reasons for this; I don’t want to be branded a liar . I don’t want the men who made me a victim to come after me - because they quite easily could. I don’t want people to slut shame me, as so often happens to young women ...