Raising Molly
Molly was my delightful, goofy, youngest child. She grew into a strong, resilient and empathetic young woman. Naturally warm, kind and compassionate, Molly was the sparkle in our family. However, the world was not always kind to Molly, and she experienced significant trauma in her short life.
Molly ended her own life in July 2022, at the age of 22. She was wanting to leave her 20-month marriage and come home to Australia. It was the sixth time she had tried to leave. Her bags were packed. But unbeknown to anyone else, as she was preparing to leave, her husband was inflicting a level of emotional cruelty akin to torture. He broke her strong spirit.
In Australia over 400 women, who are known victims of domestic abuse, end their own lives EACH YEAR. They are the unrecorded statistics of this abhorrent crime. Understanding domestic abuse, especially coercive control, is the important first step in tackling this scourge.
With understanding we can better target interventions to STOP the perpetrators of domestic abuse from abusing and better support the victims as they navigate life with an abuser. Molly and I hope to guide you through this difficult and often confronting issue, so you can feel empowered to make a difference too.
My writings are for anyone wanting to understand more about domestic abuse, coercive control and what we can do to stop it from happening and continuing.
Dear julie thank you for all your efforts and hard work in increasing people awareness in DV , and the concequenc of it in our society. It is absolutely heartbreaking to know what happened to your beautiful Molly and other beautiful women. I admire your love courage and effort to make a difference for others .