Control Freak

Josephine was a typical young woman looking for something to spice up her life, adventure, excitement, love? But that meant finding that special someone. She did, she found him in John. Not on a dating site, not on social media, not on the internet. She found him in the personal ads in her local newspaper. But then it doesn't matter how you find someone, it just matters that you do. He was the perfect gentleman, the perfect friend, the perfect partner. How could it get any better? Well, it did. He proposed and she accepted. They were married.

And that's when it all changed. When John changed. John didn't use his fists, didn't use physical violence to exert his control. He used mind games and the ever-underlying threat of what he might do. Josephine was trapped, as many women are, not by bars or locks but by uncertainty. Uncertainty about what would happen if she stayed, or what might happen if she tried to leave. Is there a way out? How do you put an end to an abusive relationship? And stay alive?

This is Josephine's story.