This week on the show, single mum Kimberley shares Part 3 of her story.

In Ep 263 - Part 1, Kimberley talked about growing up in a single mum household and the relationship she had with her own father, the night she met her husband, and how (what she thought was going to be) a one night stand turned into a very toxic and abusive. She shared the story of the early days of their relationship, up until the birth of her daughter, and the red flags and abusive tendencies that started appearing.

In Ep 264 - Part 2, Kimberley's story continued. She talked about how the abusive tendencies started escalating and she shared her experience of what she would later find out was known as the cycle of domestic violence. She also talked about how she gained the courage to leave him, though it was the first of many attempts she made to leave the relationship, and how six months later he wormed his way back in.

In this episode, Kimberley shares the further violent and abusive outbursts of her ex, and the safety measures she started taking to protect herself (and how she perceived this as being normal), the financial abuse that had started getting worse, the isolation he inflicted on her and separating her from her friends and sister (her biggest support), his gambling and consequent debt that kept increasing, his paranoia that kept getting worse, and how she got the courage to call the Domestic Violence Crises Service for the first time.

She also shares the events that led up to the second time that she left him and how it affected her kids, who were 4 and 10 at this stage, and the disaster that happened when she allowed him to temporarily stay at their place.

Kimberley also talks about how he eventually left again and moved away - a couple of hours away. Kimberley shares the horrors of what he put their kids through during that time, and how he neglected to care for them, and how ultimately she let him move back in, to keep her children safe as she could be there to protect them.

Stay tuned for next week, where Kimberley shares Part 4 of her story.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Listen to Ep 263 - Kimberley's Story (Part 1) HERE.

Listen to Ep 264 - Kimberley's Story (Part 2) HERE.

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