October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Justine Skye is a survivor. The songstress shares her personal story about being in an abusive relationship in the visuals for her latest track, “Build.”
“I was one of those people who thought, ‘Oh! Nobody would ever put their hands on me,’” Justine shared in an interview with Billboard. She goes on to say that “standing up to [domestic violence] is extremely important” because “it can happen to anyone.”
“There were people in the room, and other women in the video that have been through [abuse], too,” she said of filming the emotional video. “For my mother to watch [the filming was emotionally draining]. It was very sad. I was thinking about all the women who have experienced this. I’ve played the video for some people, and it was triggering. For the most part, I hope that people get the message I am trying to spread, which is awareness of the situation.”
To get out, the 23-year-old artist says you have to “find the strength to remove yourself from the situation. Understand that you are important. You are valuable. Your life is valuable. Your love is valuable! You deserve so much better.”
She added, “Whether it becomes physical or not, it is obvious. People will hurt you in a relationship, but for the most part, [I feel] you may love this person so much that you do not want to believe it. So, [perhaps] you choose to ignore all of the signs, even when they are directly in your face. You don’t want to believe it is true. You don’t want to believe this person could hurt you this bad, so you, I guess, pretend. Well, I’ve definitely done that many times.”
As far as Justine advice to survivors, she says, ”Continue on your journey to love and positivity.”
“Something like this [experience] can make you lose so much trust in any relationship. It is hard to look at [new] people, and not think of the person that hurt you,” she shared. “So, [I’d say to them], ‘Guard your heart. Stay strong. Don’t give up on love. Do not completely cut people out. Be more aware of the signs.’”
Roommates, if you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−SAFE for help.
Justine’s forthcoming EP set scheduled to drop at top of 2019.
