Originally Published in the June 4th Print Publication
Kayla Malec, a popular influencer on TikTok has recently won a trial against her now ex-boyfriend, Evan Johnson, for domestic abuse. Malec is a great example of what to do when one is in an abusive relationship and doesn’t know who to talk to in the situation, and here’s my take.
Abuse is sadly very common in relationships today, even one in three teens will experience violence in their relationships, and with a partner as abusive as Malec’s, one may be scared to speak up, afraid of what their partner could do.
Malec’s relationship with Johnson spiraled out of control and details can be found all over the internet, evidence including videos filmed by Malec of Johnson being physically and verbally abusive towards her such as breaking her jaw, choking her, and trashing her house and victim blaming her and sexually shaming her. She also goes more into depth into her story on her YouTube channel, in her two part series called “He Doesn’t Love You.”
What’s scary is I know other people can relate to Malec’s story but are afraid to seek help. If you or anyone you know is in an abusive relationship please don’t be afraid to speak up or check in on them. Remember there are also many different types of abuse such as physical abuse involving physical contact, emotional abuse like manipulation, there’s also sexual abuse such as unwanted sexual touching without ones consent, these forms of abuse are a massive issue and are visably noticeable in people who have gone through these types of abuse.
For example a lot of the victims who go through physical abuse from their partner will have noticeable bruises or cuts and will maybe try to cover them up trying to defend their partner, emotional abuse is slightly harder to see in people, but not if you look at their past and present behaviour, people going through emotional abuse tend to act less confident and feel as their opinions don’t matter as much as they did, considering their partner most likely shuts their ideas down,k and individuals in these types of relationships no matter what kind of abuse should be noticeable in the way they act and that’s why the best thing for someone in an abusive relationship would be a close friend or just someone on their side and is willing to listen to the situation, and that’s exactly what Kayla Malec had. She had many supportive friends that she would reach out when she needed help or someone to listen to her, and what’s important to know is that you don’t need to be a famous TikTok influencer to have people that will hear your story, there will always be someone in the world who will listen to you and what to are going through. And to those who may not have the greatest friends to hear you out, there are hotlines and communities for domestic abuse cases. Help will always be available.
National Domestic Abuse Hotline: Call 800-799-7233 Text 88788
National Domestic Abuse Website: www.thehotline.org