a successful new life starts in every moment...

Diana Smith

I came home one day and my partner had got very drunk and destroyed the house he had knocked over the Xmas tree taken a Hammer to his car poured soup I’d made all over the kitchen floor messed up kids bedrooms, I put the girls to bed quickly in the spare room with me and blamed the dog for the mess.

I was thankful I wasn't home as he would have taken to me with the hammer not our car.

I left the next day with my two young girls wondering if I was doing the right thing when two weeks later i was driving somewhere with my girls who were three and five and the five year old said Mum u seem so much braver now than u were before ... I cried all the way home knowing I had done the right thing for my girls.

And now years later I am a published author writing children’s inspiring books on gratefulness and self esteem teaching them when they’re young they’re self worth. I want them to learn it a lot earlier than i did in my 40's !

Mikail Wilder

My Name is Mikail and this is my story . My African dream turned into my African nightmare.

After moving from Australia to the South African bush on new years 2011/2012 with 2 young babies and and my now ex husband , I never knew how dramatically my life would change forever! 

After enduring years of physical and mental abuse, my life was almost stolen from me on 9 June 2013. After a frantic phone call to my parents after surviving several hours of being beaten and abused my father flew half way across the world to rescue my children and I from my tormentor.

Today 5 years after the brutal final attack and in 2014 tragically losing my father to suicide - I proudly raise my two young daughters on my own in Australia, I work part time and although the road to recovery has not been easy it has DEFINITELY been worth it !

The bad days become less over time and the good days become better days!

And my motto I've lived with for the past 5 years to keep me going "Silence Breeds Violence".

If your reading this and you are ready to leave I wish you strength and hope and to know there is light at the end of a dark tunnel

Yvvonne Sharpe

I almost declined the invitation to tell my story because I didn't want to embarrass my children. How ridiculous, they lived through the experience but shouldn't have ...... I won't give a blow by blow dialogue of what my children and I went through because if you are here you are going through it, have been through it or know someone who is in this situation.

 

That's the thing, when you are going through domestic violence in the home you will have many conflicting emotions and reasoning that at the time appear logical but you are definitely not in a normal situation. You might feel that you are in a hopeless position but I cannot stress enough, the importance of timing, the importance of taking control of the situation and if possible, the planning of your exit......Not because I did it but because I didn't do it.

I met my first boyfriend at 15, married him at 17, had my first of three children at 22. From the outset, my relationship with him was violent but because I grew up in a family home where violence was perpetrated upon me, I accepted it as normal. I thought that I could hide most of the violence in our marriage from the children but when they witnessed it, I would try to smooth it over. What a mistake, what an awful message and example I was setting for my children.

I believe this is where the importance of clear reasoning comes in although when in an environment of violence, clear reasoning does not come easily.

Stop making excuses as to why you can't leave. Just make plans on how you can do it quickly, safely and hopefully with some financial backup and necessities of life.....although in my situation my kids and I appeared in a friend's driveway in our pajamas!!!!

 

Don't wait until you have to run. Do you realize that making excuses for his behavior, you are wrongfully condoning that behavior, using excuses that he was stressed or you shouldn't have said a certain thing the way you did, you are actually giving him and your children the message that under certain circumstances his behavior is acceptable?

 

Do you want your daughters or your sons to think this is ok? Happily my son abhorred his father's behavior so was totally the opposite, however he left home at 17 because he couldn't watch it any more. So, how long did it take me to get out of this situation? 27 years!!!!.... My reasoning? Wait until the kids have left school. So I put them through many years of miserable experiences and myself through 27 years of abuse and misery. Please don't follow my example, for your own sake but especially for the sake of your children, just get out......

When I finally found the courage and made the decision to leave, it wasn't easy, I went through tough times emotionally and was left thinking of how many years I had wasted. Although I made the break from my violent husband, it still took me 8 years to quell my suspicions that all men were the same...... although our personal circumstances differ, our common denominator is violence....as much as I've put into a few paragraphs something that seems like a formula, we all know it's a much more complex dilemma. Please don't wait!!.... Get your exit plan together!!! ....Don't be embarrassed, tell your trusted friends. You'll be surprised at how many of them are probably already aware. Start living your life.

Kristy Elizabeth

I was in a relationship with a man for 10 years, we have an amazing daughter together, the start of our relationship was everything I could of ever dreamed of and more, we moved out of the area and things began to go downhill.

We ended up moving to Melbourne with promises of a new life and beginning, but that was just the beginning.

In the end he was sentenced to 8 years jail for what our daughter and I endured, he served 4 & 1/2 years of that sentence and was released on Parole.

Goes without saying he returned to WA and located us.

That fateful morning led me to Broken Crayons Still Colour Foundation and our beautiful Rach Mac.

My brave daughter had protected her brother and herself and called 000 for help when he attacked me/us.

I was a complete mess, I could not function, it was Rach right there every step.

I was not informed of his release in Melbourne as I had relocated to Perth, Victoria police won't extradite because there is no deal for extradition in place between the forces.

Rach helped us by assisting in my house search when I just couldn't, applying for VROs in WA because our life long ones in Victoria don't stand here.

She was always there.

In this chaotic time I met my beautiful Partner Rebecca and we've been together 2 & 1/2 years now. 

She is an amazing partner and other Mother to my children, supportive all the way through everything even when he threatened her and her grandmother.

I am a Broken Crayon and thanks to Rach, Rebecca and this foundation I can color beautifully.