Minister recalls her own domestic violence experiences: 'Back then my mind was clouded'

Domestic abuse survivors relived their past traumas on Tuesday in the wake of Bernice Cassar's murder, Julia Farrugia Portelli said as she shared her own experiences.

The Inclusion Minister recalled when she was in a toxic relationship during her Sixth Form days and how she once got hit so hard by the person she was dating, that she lost her balance and collapsed to the ground. 

Farrugia Portelli described in a Facebook post how, accompanied by her then boyfriend, told the doctor, the injury she sustained was caused when she tried to break up a fight.

However, the doctor realised right away that the couple was concealing the true reason for the injuries. “That doctor was Deo Debattista. Sharp as always, he noticed the lie right away. But back then my mind was clouded - I didn't have the courage to say what was going on,” Farrugia Portelli recounted.

A different incident occurred 16 years ago, she added. Now in a  different relationship, Farrugia Portelli recounted how her former partner refused to accept it when she broke up with him after the relationship turned sour.

"Months later, I used to leave work, start the car and find him staring at me behind the car window. It is difficult to explain what terror feels like. On that day, although physically fragile, I found the courage to file a police report on a sequence of events that happened," the minister said.

But at the police station, the policewoman who took the report said that there was little hope of success because the case would fall through.

"She didn't know what the law says about ex-officio cases," Farrugia Portelli said, but then the case proceeded in court.

"All those who passed through cases like these, on a day like yesterday (Tuesday) would have relived the trauma all over again. Many people, including public persons have written to me and called me to recount similar experiences they passed through. I offer courage to those who passed or are passing through similar cases," Farrugia Portelli said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Farrugia Portelli briefly recounted her personal trauma in parliament, earning her praise from MPs for having the courage to share her experience.