No one would judge me if I wanted to scream at them with every insult - but I don't think that's what I'd want to do. I was in an air-conditioned, windowless meeting room within the bowels BBC’s Broadcasting House. I was sitting across a table with a producer who wanted to help me tell my story in a documentary he was planning. I walked him through what happened, the attacks, life afterwards and how I came about to founding a charity to help others. To prepare me for the docu
Stay Brave UK is on a mission, and I’d like you to join us on this journey. I joined the Trustee Board of Stay Brave UK because I understand the need for campaigning organisations which seek to prevent, combat and eliminate domestic, sexual and intimate abuse. Stay Brave UK is unique. We’re an organisation which campaigns to ensure that nobody, regardless of gender, is denied access to support. But we also recognise the global pandemic of injustice which is gender inequality.
On the 19th November the world celebrates International Men’s Day (IMD) with the aims to promote men’s and boy’s health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting male role models. This year’s IMD theme in the UK is “supporting boys with their academic, employment, personal, social and health education” while continuing the attention needed on male suicide. In the UK men are four times more likely to kill themselves than women, with (on average)
As an ex-sex worker I can say from first hand experience that it’s extremely risky and unsafe in this country to operate in the industry. It’s one of the oldest job roles in the world, yet receives an almost unparalleled amount of stigma due to the morality of others. It’s because of this morality that sex workers today are forced to operate in the shadows, taking on unsafe bookings with clients, and place themselves in danger because the institutions that preach this moralit
Asking for help is never easy. It may seem easy to someone from the outside. But when you’re sitting there with a laptop open, helpline number entered into a phone, it takes an amazing amount of courage to press the dial button. First few times you press it fear may get the better and you’ll hang up soon as you hear a ring. More often than not the laptop gets closed, the phone gets put down, and help is not asked for. These brave people will then endure for another few months
This past weekend I was contacted by someone I hadn't spoken to in awhile. We met through an app online. We met in person a couple of times, over drinks - maybe even had some fun together before our relationship settling to a text once every so often. It's a regular occurrence for people putting themselves out there in the world of dating. The message started off with a normal, mundane "Hi, how're you?" - I was out for drinks with friends , I replied sporadically. The message