Welsh singer Duffy has shared a harrowing account of being raped, drugged and held captive over a number of weeks.
The 35-year said she was telling her story in a bid to help “others who have suffered the same.”
She first opened up about the incident last February, saying that she was “OK and safe now” and promising to answer questions about the ordeal when she was ready.
In a blog post overnight, she spoke about what made her decide to open up after spending years trying to recover.
“I posted the words I wrote, a few weeks ago, because I was tired of hiding,” she said.
“Never feeling free or burden free. I had become enmeshed with my story like a dark secret. It made me alone and feel alone.”
She said she has spent the last ten years ‘almost completely alone.’
“It still burns my heart to write it,” she said. “I owe it to myself to say it, I feel obliged to explain how challenging recovering truly was and to finally disclose it.
“I hope it comforts you to feel less ashamed if you feel alone.”
She said the ordeal began on her birthday when she was drugged at a restaurant.
Welsh singer Duffy performs on stage during her concert at the Hurricane Festival in Scheessel, Germany, 19-06-09. Image: FRISO GENTSCH/DPA/PA ImagesShe said that continued for four weeks and she travelled to a foreign country.
“I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle,” she said.
“I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me. I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened.
“I was stuck with him for another day, he didn’t look at me, I was to walk behind him, I was somewhat conscious and withdrawn.
“I could have been disposed of by him.”
She said she was too afraid to flee and eventually flew back with him.
“When I got home, I sat, dazed, like a zombie,” she said.
“I knew my life was in immediate danger, he made veiled confessions of wanting to kill me. With what little strength I had, my instinct was to then run, to run and find somewhere to live that he could not find.”
Duffy said that she escaped by “fleeing,” but did not say how she got away, adding she “cannot remember getting home.”
She said that she initially feared going to the police, but has since separately told two female police officers about her ordeal.
Duffy added that she was at “high risk of suicide” following the ordeal and has spent “almost 10 years completely alone.”
But she said she now feels she can “leave this decade behind” and is “free,” thanking her psychologist for helping her through the trauma.
Duffy said she was sharing her story because “we are living in a hurting world and I am no longer ashamed that something deeply hurt me, anymore.
“I believe that if you speak from the heart within you, the heart within others will answer.
“As dark as my story is, I do speak from my heart, for my life, and for the life of others, whom have suffered the same.”
Duffy, whose full name is Aimee Anne Duffy, had a UK number one album with ‘Rockaferry’ in 2008.
She won three BRIT awards and a Grammy for the album – which included the hits Warwick Avenue, Mercy and Stepping Stone.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by the issues discussed in this article you can contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's 24-hour helpline on 1800 77 88 88 or contact the Samaritans on 116 23 and by email at: jo@samaritans.ie
