Love from, Florence Grace

*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 ...