A woman from north Essex has spoken out about the lasting trauma of domestic abuse, revealing she developed a phobia of showers after her former partner waterboarded her. Flo, 30, who asked for her full name to be withheld, said the abuse began almost immediately when she started the relationship at age 19.
She gave birth to her son at 21, and recalled being badly beaten before going into labour. 'When we were alone he headbutted and strangled me,' she said. The midwife witnessed the attack and alerted social services, who urged Flo to leave her partner or risk losing her child.
Fled the relationship and moved back to Essex, where she returned to studying and became a special needs teacher. However, she found that the physical aggression from some students triggered her own unhealed trauma. 'I was coming into work and in essence getting beaten up, forgiving them, getting beaten up,' she said.
Now 30, Flo has been documenting her recovery on TikTok, building a community of domestic abuse survivors. One of her most-watched videos addresses her fear of showers, which she is confronting by washing partially clothed.
