She's got that fighting spirit

I am running and fighting for survivors of domestic violence:

                                 So far....
I have ran:
*The Regents park 10k in August 2018, *The Greenwich park 10k in October 18 *Fulham cityrun 10k in November 18. 

*I  co- facilitated a free self defence workshop for survivors under the knowledgeable expertise of North London self defence instructor Sharif Joynson 
http://www.northlondonselfdefence.co.uk/

* I have spoken at the annual CEASE conference (Centre to end all sexual exploitation) in November 18 about my experiences and views on the overlaps between domestic violence and trafficking. 

                      -Upcoming races-
*Olympic park 10k 16th December 2018 
*Brighton half marathon Feburary 2019

                      -Upcoming events-  
*V-day women's poetry night February 2019                                       

All donations go directly to my chosen charity women + health Camden who provide a safe haven for domestic violence survivors through their Phoenix programme offering free therapy, holistic treatments,advocacy and group sessions for women in hardship. 
http://www.womenandhealth.org.uk/

"Seven women a month are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales"

"In 2013-14 the police recorded 887,000 domestic abuse incidents in England and Wales"

"Each year nearly 2 million people in the UK suffer some form of domestic abuse - 1.3 million female victims (8.2% of the population) and 600,000 male victims (4%) "

"62% of children living with domestic abuse are directly harmed by the perpetrator of the abuse, in addition to the harm caused by witnessing the abuse of others"

 No matter how big or small, your donation will contribute towards a woman taking her power back where it was once stolen. Your money will be part of a collective effort to uplift and equip survivors in the knowing that they hold personal value, strength and versitility. 


                         -ABOUT ME -

I am a writer, campaigner and empowerment coach. I am also an ex runaway who was once a very scared and lonely teenager and as a result I  fell victim to domestic abuse, exploitation, rape and modern slavery.

 "72% people exploited in the sex industry are women"

"43% of victims are trafficked domestically within national borders"

Having been in two relationships where domestic violence existed I spent my childhood and early adulthood entrapped in a web of false reality, grooming and powerlessness. 

I watched my mothers struggle to get out of her own domestic violence nightmare and I inherited the generational pain that my mother carried. 

Fuelled by homelessness and displaced anger I spiralled away from the concerned watch of my mother and ended up in the clutches of a pimp posing as a boyfriend. What followed was a total of ten years of victimisation replaying the same. 

From child sexual abuse and domestic terrorism to trafficking; I have been to hell and back. I rebuilt myself from the ground up and my heart now stands in helping others get out of their own version of hell. 

"women literally have been domesticated to the point of pathological notions of femininity, on one end of the spectrum we have truly obnoxious men who are pathologically masculine and on the other end pathologically feminine women, most of us are in the middle.We've housebroken women to the point that their femininity is frequently deadly when they are confronted with pathologically masculine men, pathologically masculine men have many characteristics but the one most deadly to women is that they firmly believe that a women belongs to them, no kidding, they truly believe it's their duty to discipline, hit, chain, imprison, do whatever is necessary to keep their women in line"  - Beauty bites beast, B3 Books, Ellen Snortland

               -ABOUT MY RECOVERY-

I began my healing journey back in 2012, suicidal and in crisis, I received a referral to women + health who gifted me a series of free therapy sessions. For the first time in my life I felt heard, validated and safe. I slowly began regaining the fragmented parts of myself lost through trauma and learnt to trust myself with my own recovery.

I am still to this day in touch with my therapist from women + health and she continues to show me nothing but empathy, flexibility and understanding. She truly is an earth angel and I am forever humbled by her spirit that helped me when I so needed it. 

I began training in self defence alongside Sharif as part of my own pursuit of further autonomy and bodily empowerment. My experience with Sharif has been hugely enlightening, rewarding and multi faceted. His intuition coupled with his in depth experience and knowledge of post traumatic stress disorder has contributed to a holistically whole integration of mind and body with self defence as the driving force. 

Mobilising body and voice has been paramount to healing my nervous system and realigning my fight/flight response, some ways in which I've integrated this have been through somatic experiencing and running. I am now a women's running coach and workshop facilitator helping others to feel empowered through movement and creativity using the avenues of acting, art and writing. 

I started my journey as a runaway. I would quite literally run out of the house at night as a child just so I could hear my own breathing, the silence and feel my body keep going and going and going. I wrote down my pain and what was unsafe to feel at the time. That is how I survived and that is where I got my strength from. I owe that gift of survival to others who need it now that I have found my way. 

"Her name was Queen Boadicea. There is a statue of her in London. not far from parliament, next to a bridge over the Thames. The statue depicts her driving a two horse chariot with two young women riding on the chariot behind her. She is large, she is fierce, and she is determined to avenge the rape of her daughters" - Beauty bites beast, B3 Books, Ellen Snortland.