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Shame has held women back from telling their stories for too long – and this referendum is helping to shine an important light on untold truths

When you exist in a society that hands out Shame cards with a capital ‘S’, fear and self-consciousness can settle on you like a blanket Pic: Getty

Back in college, almost two decades ago, I decided to get on a plane and go to a Marie Stopes clinic in London.

I wasn’t pregnant; I wasn’t planning an abortion or helping anyone else to have an abortion. The official reason for me being there was because I was working on a piece of writing at the time – for my masters degree – based around the theme of abortion. But I’d ...