Watch: Maltese Influencer Opens Up About The First Time She Went To A Domestic Violence Shelter
Popular Maltese influencer Sefora Aquilina opened up about the first time she went to a domestic violence shelter and the horrific abuse that led her there
“He was hitting me while I was sleeping,” Sefora shared on the latest episode of The She Word titled Women Survivors of Domestic Abuse.
The episode was hosted by Trudy Kerr who sat down with Sefora, Elaine Compagno, general manager at the Women for Women Foundation, and Rachel Williams, an outspoken activist and domestic abuse survivor.
The episode explores the women’s experiences with intimate partner violence, sharing sobering statistics and shedding light on the reality of hundreds of Maltese women.
“The abuse was very bad by the end of the relationship. I had five stitches in my head. The first time I went to the shelter he started hitting me while I was sleeping. I woke up feeling the bed shaking. We didn’t even argue, I was sleeping,” she painfully recounted.
After that night, Sefore went to the domestic violence shelter for the first time explaining that her mother picked up her son and not her because of all of the times she had gotten back with her abusive (now) ex-partner.
Sefora then detailed one of the moments she realised that her relationship was not normal, despite being with the same man since she was 16 years old and knowing nothing else.
“I felt it coming, I felt that I needed to do something about it. On my birthday he hit me in my back and my son told him ‘Why are you hitting mummy? It’s her birthday,’ I couldn’t move, I was thinking, ‘this six-year-old boy with autism has more sense than I do, he knew it wasn’t normal – why do I think this is normal?’”
Sefora explained that years of manipulation, control and psychological abuse completely eroded her self-confidence and had her constantly believing she was in the wrong. It wasn’t until she built a presence on social media that she realised she did not want to live in that toxic cycle of abuse anymore.
“I built another world that he was not involved in. I longed for that feeling of interacting on social media and making new friends.”
The young mother thought that the life she lived with her former partner was normal, her only friends were his so she had nobody to confide in. Through her social media page, however, she started meeting new people who helped her realise her relationship was not normal.
The episode explores several aspects of abuse: the culture that aids it, the law that doesn’t help, the answers to “Why didn’t you leave sooner?” and the things that we as a society can do to fight it.
The episode will air tonight at 7pm.
Will you be watching the episode?
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