I'm so extremely pleased and relieved to see TV doing what needs to be done when it comes to tackling the scourge of domestic violence. The awful, terrible, dark and appalling truth of it has been hidden and side-lined for too long and something needs to be done about it - which TV can do.
Singer Sadie Stone's been a victim of it on the latest season of Nashville, SA soapie star Letoya Makhene's spoken out about it in True Love, eNCA's had a debate about it and the latest season of The Walking Dead dealt with it so intensely it almost drove Rick out of his mind when he tried to save Jessie from Pete.
The portrayal of it on Walking Dead was so hectic it blew my mind. It revealed how horrifically violent and traumatic it is - even more so than zombies attacking you! The zombies were a Christmas present in contrast to the kind of violence that came across through the domestic violence storyline.
We never saw Pete beating Jessie but we knew it was happening, behind closed doors - a door which he closed on us and the Walking Dead characters who wanted to help and save her.
This is why it's so crucial to talk about it because we need to DO something to stop it. We need to expose it. We need victims to speak about it. There's such a taboo about it - which makes it even more terrible, even more abusive.
The worst part of The Walking Dead storyline was how Rick battled to get anyone to do anything about Pete. They had excuses - said things like, "Oh but he's the only doctor we have in town and we need him,". Any justification - no matter
what it is - is 100% unacceptable. This is how Rick felt too and people judged and turned on him because of it.
This is why it's brilliant that Letoya's spoken about it so bravely. She's put it out there on the front cover of a magazine and now everyone knows exactly what her ex-husband was like. I'm also very happy that she's ditched her maiden surname of Mangezi to return to Makhene - such a symbol of her liberation and the fact that she's escaped the abuse.
Sadie Stone does the same on Nashville - speaks to the press - tells everyone what a Pig her ex-husband is. It's clearly a very difficult thing to do and yet they've done it. The crushing conflict about whether or not to expose the truth will be gone for them and now they're free.
All of it encourages victims to speak out, the taboos to be broken, the culprits to
fear. It lets victims know that we, as a society, are on their side and that they aren't alone.