Model and BWC Ambassador, Frankie Herbert Speaks Out About Her Experience With Domestic Violence

by Jenny Proudfoot for Maria Claire

Domestic violence has increased three-fold during the coronavirus isolation with calls to helplines rapidly increasing over the past month. In this exclusive account for Marie Claire, model Frankie Herbert breaks her silence on her own experience with domestic abuse and urges anyone quietly suffering at home to seek help now.

Words by Frankie Herbert

For some of us, home isolation is a break from the mad busy lives we lead, our homes a place of sanctuary. For others, home can be a dangerous, abusive, and life-threatening prison now that workplaces, schools,  gyms and friend’s houses are out of bounds. There are thousands of vulnerable women and children living with domestic abuse across the country right now, and speaking about what it feels to experience it is the only way to break the stigma and encourage more people to do the same.

Every domestic abuse story is different, but I do know how it feels to live with intense fear. In November 2019 I was sexually and physically assaulted by my boyfriend. I was 23 and working full time as a model as well as studying to become a counsellor.

I’d met him in Hamburg when I was there for a casting for a couple of hours and we serendipitously began a FaceTime romance. He was tall, handsome and seemingly everything I’d ever wanted. I was nursing a broken heart from an ex and I rushed into it with this gorgeous new German man *Chris because I was desperate to distract my pain with a new man’s attention.

Read the full article by Jenny Proudfoot on Marie Claire

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