Mel B:'I still wake up covered with fear'
Painful confession and a life trauma of the famous Spice girl. Mel B. She explains to women today why it is important to act immediately!
Former member of the Spice Girls, Mel B (46), is well known for promoting the importance of raising awareness about consent to sexual intercourse. She personally suffered sexual abuse from her ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte. She said that is important to raise awareness because when the victim is violated, the consequences for her can remain devastating.
Despite her wealth and fame, the former star of the most famous female five believed that no one would believe her that she was a victim of sexual abuse, just as is the case with many victims. Now, as part of the #NoMeansNo campaign, the 46-year-old singer and her daughter Phoenix, 22, are bravely sharing their own stories after disturbing footage of a young woman accusing Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood of sexual abuse.
Phoenix, who has witnessed some of the worst attacks on her mother, teaches children in schools what it actually means to consent to sexual intercourse. Very concerning information is that since this pandemic started, and people are in their homes, together, domestic abuse in Britain increased to 60 percent.
Now Mel, who sponsors Women’s Aid, explains why it’s important to act now. She said that this weekend after she saw a traumatic video of a woman allegedly raped by a man that she trusted. Sadly these situations can happen to any woman. Mel explained that she was emotionally and physically abused for ten years in a marriage she finally left in 2017. Between Mel and her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte, grose things happened and she doesn't fully remember everything because trauma after abuse can last a lifetime. But almost five years later she still wakes up in the early morning hours with frightening fragments of sounds and images flying through her head.
"The things I tried to forget always come back to the surface. Those are things that can still make me feel ashamed, sweaty and scared. I know that many women who have been raped and abused in a relationship feel powerless and invisible which is why I say this. Eventually leaving my marriage, I decided to risk my career by writing a book “Brutally Honest” about my experiences.My ex told me that no one would ever believe me, that I had no evidence and that was because drinking, drugs, and sex were part of our relationship. But for a woman who stood up for Girl Power, I felt I had to speak up because I knew what had happened to me was happening to millions of others. " said Mel B.
The singer described how the problem arose because she could not remember much because of the trauma from that relationship. The co-author of her book had to gather a lot of information from conversations with her close friends, family and colleagues to fill in the gaps in her memory. The worst for her was that her daughter witnessed everything. This was very disturbing for both of them.
Ex Spice girl claimed that she turned to alcohol and drugs to alleviate the pain. After she published her book she realized that she was not alone. Many other women shared the same experience. Women who were drugged and forced to have sex with other men, women who felt they had to come to terms with humiliating situations for fear of consequences.
"I don't know right number how many women experienced this in their lives. All I know is that when I spoke, I would listen to story after story that reflected my experience. And as ugly as this situation is, it once again highlights the issue of female abuse. Talk about it, deal with it and do everything in our power to deliver justice, " concluded Mel B.
