From the editor
WHEN I WAS 19, my then-
boyfriend locked me inside our
apartment and then physically
assaulted me for around 45
minutes. He was jealous I had
been out with my girlfriends in
a nightclub and missed his calls.
He had waited for me on the
street near our apartment and
hit me in the back of the head
from behind, before dragging
me inside. He forced me insideour place and locked the door.
He punched me in the face, tried
to gouge my eyes with his fingers
and told me to write a goodbye
letter to my family. I begged and
screamed for him to let me go.
It wasn’t until I caught a glimpse
of myself and started throwing
up in shock at the state of my
face that I realised I had to take
another approach. I told him that
I needed medical attention andpromised I wouldn’t tell the
police it was him. Thankfully,
something clicked in him and he
let me dial 000. After the ordeal,
he calmly walked me downstairs
to the foyer, where I collapsed to
the sound of ambulance sirens
off in the distance.
He had never attacked me
before, though in hindsight he
had been trying to control the
time I was spending with myPHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL SUESSE/BAUER. GETTY IMAGESREBECCA
HARDINGTEGAN
MARTINASHY
BINESCOSMO’S
RED FLAG
INITIATIVE