I was in an abusive relationship for 3 1/2 years with a man who was 10 years my senior; I was 19 years old at the time.

We are all aware of the issue of domestic violence, but this petition goes far deeper than this.

Approximately 1 & 1/2 or 2 years into our relationship, my ex announced to me that he had herpes after I suspected foul play due to his suspicious behaviour. Because of the nature of the harm done to me and the lasting effects of the physical and psychological abuse I endured, I only reported this to the police recently.

My ex has admitted to the police that he flipped a sofa on me and I have witnesses who saw the bruise which I received to my eye, but due to my inability to give a specific idea of a date and as this is classed as a common assault (which has a prosecuting limitation period of 6 months), the police have decided to take no further action.

My ex has further admitted that he knew he had herpes, but did not know he could pass it on unless he had an outbreak; a fact which you will find out is pure fantasy if you simply google the condition. 

The police have said that there is no evidence that he believed anything different, although when I asked him at the time why he didn't tell me, he told me that it was because I wouldn't want to be with him.

Even if you take this as fact, my ex had unprotected sexual intercourse with me for around 2 years without taking any precautions. Until he was confronted, he did not tell me about his condition and now I have herpes and suffer depression and anxiety because of it; I also have to take suppressants to manage my symptoms (that is two sets of medication daily).

Herpes is incurable; I must tell every sexual partner for the rest of my life and the condition could potentially affect my own children one day. Nevertheless, having admitted to the police that he knew he had this incurable virus and that he did not inform me of this until much later in the relationship, this man is still walking free.

I implore you not to let this become the norm; what happened to me could happen to anyone! It should not be acceptable to know that you have an incurable condition which you can pass to someone else and not tell them!

Victims of such assaults should have to prove nothing more than the perpetrator was aware of their condition and that they did not tell them; as the law stands, anyone who has herpes and is aware of the condition can have unprotected sexual intercourse with others and never tell them of their condition, safe in the knowledge that they can merely claim ignorance.

IGNORANCE SHOULD NOT BE AN EXCUSE!