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Rachel Taylor has opened up about being abused by her ex-boyfriend Matthew Newton. The actress who graces the cover of Australian Women’s weekly March issue said ‘I was a victim of domestic violence. I don’t think any woman thinks that they will become an addition to these statistics,’ she writes in a first person essay. ‘I didn’t. I thought I was exempt. I thought I was the exception to the rule. I was not. I am a survivor of domestic violence.
‘At first, my reasons for keeping my experience of domestic violence to myself were very simple. I felt ashamed. I felt stupid. I felt very sad. And there was another reason. Domestic violence is not very nice to talk about. Not for the survivor of it, nor the community at large.’
‘My life got very small. To me, it felt like my entire social network had shrunk to the number of one and one-quarter of a person. It was as if one whole person was allocated for my abuser and the other quarter was me. I’m not sure where that three-quarters of me went exactly’.
Rachel Taylor and Matther Newton split up in 2010 after he attached her in Rome which prompted her to take out an AVO (Apprehended Violence Order).
If you or know anyone that is a victim of domestic violence please seek help and don’t be scared to speak up. We all have a voice which can be heard.
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