*Foreword*
Every year, between 5-7m teenagers endure physical violence at home
Every 10 minutes, an adolescent girl dies as a result of physical abuse at home.
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Whore, they called her.
Bitch, they jeered at her.
Hag, they insulted her.
Whispers went around the moment she stepped into the hall.
Whispers that she was mental, Whispers that she had been pregnant and her man left her,
Whispers that she was a suicidal maniac,
Whispers that she was a freak.
But nobody noticed her wrists, scarred and stained with fresh blood.
Nobody noticed the limp on her right leg where a bottle had been smashed.
Nobody noticed the bruises on her neck and chest where her step dad had beaten her,
Or that under the baggy clothes were unhealthy protruding bones because she hasn't been given food for over a week.
Nobody noticed anything
Until one day they saw a man beating her; kicking, slapping and shoving her like a little rag doll.
Screaming profanities, smashing heavy things at her head- until she collapsed.
They rushed to save her, but she was still.
It was too late.
