WHEN Talia Kensit was a teenager, she began a relationship with a boy which she says became controlling and abusive. Now 27, she speaks about that time with a sense of amazement that no adults were there to help her.
Talia recalled how she and her friends, many also suffering abuse, dealt with it on their own with no support from professionals, teachers or parents. She said: "We thought of ways we could help each other 'you can come and stay at my house if you feel safer there', or 'I will walk you to the bus stop after school so you are not on your own if he tries to see you""
She added: "We were children but having to protect ourselves and look after each other in ways that we didn't know how to do. We shouldn't have been responsible for safeguarding ourselves. Teachers didn't know what to do. There was a normalisation of the harm. Had there been professional support, a lot of us wouldn't have experienced abuse for as long as we did - or maybe at all."
Talia managed to leave that relationship with support from her friends and was determined to change things for other young women. At 19, she set up the charity Youth Realities, which has grown into one of the leading grassroots organisations running workshops in schools and supporting girls and young women who experience abuse.
This story is from the June 18, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 18, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis