Duffy felt ‘liberated’ after sharing kidnapping ordeal, encourages fans to talk

(Warning: this story contains details of rape and abuse)

"I invite you to write here, if you would like that."

Duffy has said that she felt "liberated" after sharing her experience of being kidnapped and held hostage. The Welsh singer told earlier this year of her abuse ordeal in which she was held captive and drugged over a four week period almost 10 years ago. She added that she stopped recording and performing due to the trauma associated with the event. Sharing a post to her Instagram page this week, Duffy said that speaking about her experience "liberated" her. She encouraged her fans to do the same, asking them to share how they are currently feeling during lockdown on her page. "This evening, I can’t sleep," she wrote. "I have the comfort of my bed and the health of all my family, to take shelter in, but many do not. "Health workers face fatigue, with such uncertainty ahead, people are queuing at empty food banks and the landscape is changing. "You may or may not have read my words, recently. I found them to be liberating. And so I would sincerely like to know, how are you?" Duffy went on to say that she wanted to create a post where people can "talk openly" about how they are doing. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAHM74hBMHQ/?utm_source=ig_embed The singer referenced the UK's recent easing of lockdown restrictions and said that although many people may be appreciative, others may be "grieving." "The sense of security found in a common goal, a shared goal, is changing and could now stand to divide, which it must not, above all, in adapting to a new uncertainty," she said. "I look forward to reading how you are, about your life, and current experiences. For you to share your stories visibly with others too, here." Earlier this year in a lengthy blog post, Duffy said that she was drugged at a restaurant on her birthday before being taken abroad to a foreign country. The 'Warwick Avenue' singer said she was then repeatedly raped in a hotel room, before being flown home with her alleged attacker. She said that she was then again drugged and held captive in her own home for one month. "I do not know how I had the strength to endure those days, I did feel the presence of something that helped me stay alive," she wrote in March. "With what little strength I had, my instinct was to then run, to run and find somewhere to live that he could not find."