It can—is—difficult to talk or write about abuse. I’ve been staring at an empty page for an hour as I’ve struggled with myself to write this piece

It can be all too easy to think that in 2019 as a country we have a good understanding of what abuse is. That we have excellent systems in place to tackle it. That the law, after a bad start, has finally caught up and is in a place to deal with these issues

There is no part of that which is true. In 2019 as a society we’re still learning what abuse is, what it can look like, sound like, how it can present itself. When I was growing up abuse was not talked about at all. Eventually, after a long time, depictions of abuse were began to be seen on TV and awareness of it as an issue began to become more prominent in the minds of the public

Making the choice to be PPC, making that commitment to put yourself out there to fight for your constituency so you can do your best for them, is not a decision made lightly. For any trans person that decision is a huge commitment

CW: Suicide, self-harm