Absolutely. As you know, I'm an artist, a singer, a speaker and a writer, so I lead a fairly public life. Actually, I was only able to do that once I left my partner.
There were posters all over the place showcasing me as a multidisciplinary artist. Every time I showed up for a gig, even at a restaurant, he was there. He followed me for a long time. When I called the police, there were many occasions, at least seven or eight, when they would take him back to the station, give him a warning and release him. So I had to put my career on hold and apply for social assistance, because I had nothing left to support me financially. He was never kept in jail unless it happened on the weekend. In that case, he was kept in prison for two or three days. Otherwise, he was released under recognizance. After being found guilty for breach of probation, he spent two weeks in prison, which is not much, the equivalent of a slap on the wrist.
The authorities wrote to me saying that he had gone through three or four therapy sessions. Do you know how many therapy sessions I had to go through to get my life back? In his case, however, they made it sound as if he had been cured with a wave of a magic wand.
A year and a half later, I read in the newspaper that he had beaten another woman for four hours. I was horrified.