source: BBC News

published: 27 October 2020

Image Credit : Hassan Ouajbir at www.Pexels.com

Rebecca Beattie was a victim of domestic and financial abuse for five years. Her ex-partner would gamble and use her bank cards to withdraw money and take out big loans. When she tried to end the relationship, he assaulted her so badly that she needed reconstructive surgery.

But now, Rebecca’s won a 2020 Pride of Britain award for setting up an ethical clothing brand which helps support domestic violence victims.

“Throughout my relationship, the violence started becoming more frequent, I suffered a lot of physical and emotional abuse,” Rebecca tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

“I made the decision to end the relationship. A couple of weeks after, my ex told me he was going to kill me and assaulted me,” she says.

But it wasn’t only physical abuse. Rebecca, who’s from York, says she was economically abused for years.

She was left with thousands of pounds of debt which will take 16 years to pay off.

“I was left in a very poor financial state, and I remember being sat with my son one night and we were really struggling.”

Her ex-partner was later jailed and Rebecca decided she wanted to do something to support other victims of abuse.

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Warning: The article contains a distressing image related to domestic violence.