Personal Stories

Elizabeth, England

Even when 19-year-old Elizabeth was in hospital having her mouth stitched after being hit by her partner, she accepted it as the ‘norm’. It was the result of being trapped in a relationship where she was psychologically and physically abused every day. Elizabeth says, “He did stuff to me every single day, and to be honest I lost track of what was the right and wrong way to be treated.”

During the relationship, Elizabeth also became distanced from her family because of her violent partner. He verbally threatened her mum, and as a consequence Elizabeth was told she couldn’t live at home any more.

Isolated and feeling very vulnerable, Elizabeth drank heavily to drown out the pain. Thankfully, it was whilst she was receiving help for her alcohol addiction that she was referred to Rise, a charity which supports women, children and young people affected by domestic abuse in Brighton & Hove and across West Sussex.

Elizabeth says that the one-to-one support she received from a Comic Relief funded support worker at the charity gave her the confidence and energy to break up with her partner and move out of the home they were sharing.

After two years of attending sessions with Rise, Elizabeth has now successfully finished her college education, lives in her own flat and is working with the charity to figure out what she wants to do with her life.