At 15, the speaker gave a three-minute English speech about domestic violence and sexual abuse instead of acting on suicidal thoughts. They faced accusations of bringing shame to their family, left home for a boys' home, and discovered they weren't alone in what they'd experienced.
Suicide was a very viral friend of mine, a companion who sat on my shoulder continuously throughout high school. And so my option was either take my own life or speak up. And so I've been speaking about the harms of domestic violence, sexual abuse, since I was 15. You know, when we were all given our three minute speech in English, I courageously chose to speak up and talk about family violence in school. And I still remember my peers, my pacific community. My boys challenged me. You know, bro, the shit you're talking about, like, we know it happens to all of us, but you're bringing shame to your culture, you're bringing shame to your family. But for me, the option was to take my own life or speak up. And so I spoke up, left home and 15 at the age of 15, that was hard. I moved out of home into a boy's home. And when I was surrounded by these other boys, I soon learned that I wasn't alone in my own journey.
