My Story – Charlotte

I met my abuser at 17 and he was older than me. Our relationship started very quickly, but early on in the relationship, things were good except that he was verbally abusive sometimes. We did the usual things like, going out, watching movies, & dates. I thought maybe I got a good guy. I was wrong. I fell pregnant about a month into our relationship. & that’s when the physical & mental abuse started. He was possessive & controlling. He used many tactics to control my life. He isolated me from my friends, & family, He threatened me with self harm on himself, He controlled every aspect of my life, He didn’t respect my privacy constantly going through my phone, questioning my past, He would jump on my stomach, punch me in the face, it even got to the point where he’d choked me. I made up excuses & thought it was my fault. He would make me feel bad for him hurting me, He would cry & get emotional after abusing me, & sometimes he’d even threaten to kill himself if i kicked him out, or left. Let me remind you, I was pregnant. After every argument, He would promise to change. & I believed him. It took me 10 months to leave. I was afraid. I didn’t want him to get in trouble. & i didn’t want my baby to grow up with split parents. My parents quickly caught onto him abusing me, I would reassure them that I was okay & he wasn’t hitting me. Even though, I had bruises, and wouldn’t ever hang out with them. He ruined my pregnancy. Once I gave birth, I thought maybe he’d change for his daughter. No it got worse. He hit me while holding her in the hospital & he abused me. The nurses thought i was going crazy when it was actually because he was abusing me, & I didn’t wanna say anything. A week after giving birth, he was arrested on DV 3rd. He choked me while I was in the same room as my 1 week old daughter. My mom heard me struggling to breathe & called the cops. I had bruises on me, & my shirt was stretched from where he choked me. I was only 18 years old. My parents helped me escape & i couldn’t be more thankful for them. Me & my daughter are happy, healthy, & FREE. I get to do what I want, wear what I want, & be who I wanna be without someone holding me back.