Hello, I am 23 years old and a single working mother of two beautiful children.
A few years ago, I met someone who seemed lovely. We met in a karaoke bar, and he seemed fun. Little did I know, he was very far from this. He would say things like “if you’re not going to be in a relationship with me then you’re obviously sleeping with other people” he was very good at getting what he wanted. And manipulating my behavior to how he wanted it. Soon enough, (after a month) I started to see this, and distances myself.
He would turn up to my workplace and watch me from outside in the bins, hide in my garden every night watching me through my windows.
He even pretended to be a police officer one night, to gain entry into my home. I had enough. One night, I would not let him in.
He broke down my back door, glass everywhere and assaulted me in front of my 3 year old son. Later that night, he hacked on to MY OWN Instagram, changed the password so I could not access it myself, and uploaded a nude photo of me. He text me with a screen shot to let me know what he had done. I was distraught.
It was only until I showed one of my friends the screen shot, that she noticed there was a video uploading.
Moments later, a very intimate video of myself was all over the internet.
After having every single one of my friends report the profile continuously, Instagram took the profile away. And the police arrested him. (Even though there was no real law on revenge porn until a few weeks after he commuted the crime)
He did get convicted for this, and I have got a continual restraining order. However, this man put on social media that I had cheated as an excuse for what he had done. And the support he received was ridiculous.
“She deserves it” “Slut” “What a silly whore”
Are a few of the hundreds of things said about me.
I was already feeling incredibly low, and this really didn’t help.
It saddened me to see how much hate I was receiving when in reality I was meant to be the victim.
However, I will speak about what happened to me, I will let others know that they are not alone, and it is not their fault that someone broke their trust, no matter what excuse they may try and use.
C. McCarthy