A purple eye, a bloody lip

A twisted arm, a broken hip

It’s every day, it’s every year

Violence, repression, rape, fear

We all like a bevy

But nothing too heavy

Though some folk will take it too far

For we’ve all seen the sight

At the end of the night

Let me tell you a story about a young boy and a girl. This young woman had no problem to tell anyone if they had over stepped a boundary. She knew her mind and she wasn’t afraid to say ‘No’.

This young woman was beautiful, talented and bright.

When my husband was first arrested for domestic abuse, the relief I felt was immense. My children and I had been living in a refuge for a month, and his bail conditions meant we could live in our own home without the constant anxiety of wondering what he was going to do next.

Let the pain instruct you,

Let the grief overwhelm you,

Let the despair shake you to the core,

Let the tears flow like tidal waves,

Sarah was exhausted, the baby was unsettled, her eldest daughter Sophie wouldn’t leave her side, the pain inside her son David’s head was getting greater each day. Sarah despaired, she knew the root cause and the drama that followed, his own path of destruction was getting fiercer each passing day.