“I was 25 at the time, I had just graduated as a professional and started my first job. This was around 2003/4. I was in a long-term relationship with a foreigner, my first long-term relationship and my first sexual partner. Needless to say, I trusted him, and we didn't use contraception. The withdrawal method worked for the 6 years of our relationship. He used to have a set of pills which he bought from his home country in case we would ever need to use them.
When I ended the relationship, he took things quite badly and it was a traumatic time. My ex came to Malta in order for us to put closure on the relationship and I dated someone else briefly in the meantime. During the evening meeting with my ex, one thing progressed to the next and we slept together. However, this time he did not withdraw in time and ejaculated inside. As per usual he had the pills – till this day, I am not sure which type of pill they were and to be honest, it wouldn't have made any difference. I would have taken them anyway.
The next day, my ex left my car by saying, "Take this as a lesson, you shouldn't trust people or sleep around like that." He had done it on purpose to ‘teach’ me a lesson. Almost 20 years on, I still look back and panic at the thought of what would have happened if he didn't have the pills. I still have dreams about it.
Two lessons I really learnt: (i) our sex education at school is beyond mediocre and (ii) women need full control over their bodies, and control comes with knowledge and also means.”
- June