It was only after he grabbed my arm so hard it left bruises that I finally had the courage to end it.
Not after the years of abusive, controlling behavior, ferocious jealousy and bursts of anger. All of those things were "invisible" and, in my mind, not significant enough to risk antagonizing him by trying to leave the relationship.
Decades later, after the #MeToo movement sparked a global conversation about sexual assault, harassment, intimate partner violence and who we choose to believe, I wish I could say we have made the world safer for that younger version of me to stand up for herself. But the events of the past few weeks have shown that we have not.
