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A young mother who took the brave step of speaking up publicly about being in an emotionally abusive relationship has been “overwhelmed” by the number of women who got in touch with her. They told her they were stuck in a similar situation but that they lacked a support network to help them get out of it. Svetlana took the courageous decision to share her story on social media after – thanks to the support of her family – she managed to end a long-term toxic relationship with the father of her child. “I had never really taken emotional abuse seriously, until it happened to me. And even then, I did not realise that this was a common situation. But the feedback I received from numerous women highlighted the urgent need to give more priority to tackling such cases where the damage is not necessarily physical, and is thus less visible,” she says. The majority of the women who got in touch with her, she adds, confided that they had no idea what to do to about their bad situation. “The response encouraged me to take my story further in the hope that it inspires those who are in the same position to seek help and to make the necessary changes to their lives,” she adds. She also hopes...