Amber Heard pens emotionally charged letter about domestic violence

Amber Heard has expressed her support for survivors of domestic violence and urged women to understand they are not suffering alone.

In a letter to Porter magazine, the 30-year-old actress, who is known for her role in The Rum Diaries, said women routinely encounter hostility, suspicion, and shame rather than support and respect after they speak up about their experiences of "injustice" or "suffering". Heard also said women were perpetually scrutinised about their motives.

Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp after 15 months of marriage. In court documents, Heard alleged she was abused emotionally and physically throughout the course of their marriage. Depp, 53, has always strenuously denied all allegations of abuse. The estranged couple reached an out of court $7 million settlement in August, with Heard pledging to donate the entire settlement to domestic violence and children’s charities.

Depp and Heard released a joint statement after reaching a settlement in which they acknowledged their relationship was “volatile”, but said: “Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.”

Heard has now penned an open letter in which she has explained she hates the label of "victim" and sees herself as part of a generation of women who value equality.

'“You are not alone,” she wrote in the letter. “You may have suffered alone behind closed doors, but you are not alone. You need to know that. I want to remind you of your strength, a strength that has been multiplied by the number of women who stand silently behind you - a truth that allowed me to break down the doors I once found myself behind.”

“No matter how terrible or terrifying surviving trauma may be, unfortunately, it can pale in comparison to what followers. It's no wonder so many of us feel we need to keep quiet or risk our safety to try to maintain our dignity by quietly enduring. The fear of being ostracised from society is just about the most terrifying prospect there is”.

Heard said while it is tremendously difficult to come forward the wider world was changing and with strength in numbers women could make up a “vast army of voices” and signal that they no longer endure and accept “silence”.

“I was raised to be independent and self-reliant. I was never given nor wanted the burden of dependency,” she said. “I never felt like anyone would or could rescue me, so naturally I resented the label of ‘victim.’”

This is not the first time Heard has spoken about domestic violence. In a recent video for the #girlgaze project, she gave a poignant account of how women can find it difficult to report abuse because the perpetrator is someone they love.