Danielle was made pregnant by an employee of a charity for vulnerable young people
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Danielle’s family life was marred by addiction and violence.
She remembers feeling anxious at an early age, and believes this made her vulnerable to abuse by several men.
Danielle’s father left home when she was four years old. She was very attached to him and was upset when he went.
She says members of her extended family were extremely violent. By the time she was in her early teens, Danielle was using cannabis, alcohol and ecstacy. She often ran away from home and rarely went to school. When she did go, she was not happy – she describes herself as ‘a bullied bully’ and still has scars on her wrist from self-harming.
At the same time, Danielle and a friend started hanging round a construction site, talking to the workmen. She remembers thinking this was ‘great’ and enjoyed the attention she didn’t get at home.
One of the men, who was in his 30s, groomed the two girls for a few weeks before he invited them into the portacabins on the site. They were joined by another, younger man.
Danielle describes how the four of them would kiss and touch each other. She says the older man would get jealous when she ‘did things’ with the younger man and he made her believe he loved her.
He gave the girls what seemed like substantial amounts of money, bought alcohol for them and sometimes took them to a hotel, where he sexually abused them. He took Danielle shopping and held her hand in public. He raped her in a car.
Around this time, Danielle’s mother became suspicious and spoke to the police. Danielle and the abuser were interviewed but they denied anything was happening. After this, social services became involved with the family.
The abuse ended when the site worker finished his job and went home. After he left, Danielle says she felt disgusted with herself.
After this, Danielle says she was promiscuous, ‘sofa-surfing’, drinking and taking more drugs. She got involved in a violent and abusive relationship with a 17-year-old male. She became pregnant twice but miscarried both times due to his violence.
When she was in her mid teens, her social worker arranged for her to attend a course run by a charity for vulnerable young people. Her tutor began a ‘relationship’ with her and made her pregnant. He was sacked and Danielle says she stayed with him for a few unhappy years.
She became depressed and was addicted to amphetamines and heroin. To finance her drug habit she became an escort. ‘I would just self destruct … I would go off the rails and I didn’t care’ she says. She still suffers from anxiety and has panic attacks.
When she reached her late 20s, Danielle says she started to look after herself. She returned to education, gained qualifications and now works to support other vulnerable young people.
She is in a supportive relationship, with a partner she says has helped her build self-respect.
Danielle thinks children and young people need to be aware of the risks of sexual abuse from an early age.