These are some of the experiences of child sexual abuse shared with the Truth Project by victims and survivors. All names and identifying details have been changed.
Download a PDF sample of accountsread full account of Sorells experienceSorell had known her family GP all her life and felt she had no reason not to trust him
Sorell’s parents were cold towards her, and they brought her up to have an unquestioning trust in authority.
She believes these factors made her vulnerable to being sexually abused by her family doctor.
read full account of Olivers experienceOliver talks about how mental health services are failing survivors
Oliver has experienced serious mental health problems as a result of sexual abuse in his childhood. He came to the Inquiry to give his views on how mental health services are failing survivors.
As a young schoolboy, Oliver encountered an older pupil who he admired and looked up to. The older boy got Oliver to carry out increasingly strange tasks by way of ‘serving’ him. Looking back, Oliver sees he was in a sort of ‘sexual slavery’ and was subject to a variety of violent and sexual abuse. But, he says: ‘I didn’t see it as abuse at the time; just something really, really terrible.’
read full account of Giannas experienceGianna is Deaf, and was punished if she tried to use sign language at her mainstream school
Gianna is Deaf and so is her mother.
As a child, she couldn’t communicate easily and was not able to tell anyone that she was being sexually abused.
read full account of Sheridans experienceSheridan’s abuse drove her to attempt suicide. She was not happy or relieved when she woke up in hospital
Sheridan’s father was a teacher who taught at a local school. When she started primary school at the age of four, Sheridan was in a class taught by Mr Jenkins, who knew her father.
Mr Jenkins began to visit Sheridan’s home, and over time he used his relationship with her father to gain her trust and sexually abuse her.
read full account of Williams experienceWilliam says ‘My brain got broken a bit when I was young’
William’s memories of childhood are violence, neglect, sexual abuse and having no one to turn to. He says: ‘My brain got broken a bit when I was young.’
He comments that his mother ‘never really parented me’ and he grew up witnessing severe domestic violence between his parents. William says he made many attempts to kill himself.
read full account of Micks experienceMick says ‘I was never seen, never heard. It’s always me who slips through the net’
Mick describes an early life of cruelty, neglect and abuse.
He lives with severe impacts on his mental and emotional health, and says he does not believe in or trust any institutions.
read full account of Ryans experienceRyan is angrier with the lack of care from boarding school than with his abuser, who was another student
Ryan went to a boarding school, which was elitist and very sport oriented. But, he says, he did not excel at sport; he was a timid child who was always the last one chosen for the teams, and he was bullied at this school.
Ryan recalls how one day he went for a run and when he came back to his dormitory one of the slightly older pupils, a captain of several of the school teams, sat on top of him and started playing with him. He was around 16 at the time.
read full account of Tasmins experienceAs a naive teenager, Tasmin found it impossible to ward off a predatory teacher
Tasmin was not allowed to attend sex education classes at school.
When a schoolteacher groomed and sexually abused her, she had no idea how to stop him or tell anyone what he was doing.
read full account of Jimis experienceJimi says all he wants is recognition of what happened to him and apologies for being let down
Jimi was severely physically abused as a young child by his mum and stepdad.
He was put in care, and sexually abused by staff and other youngsters in the system.
read full account of Aislings experienceAisling says the teacher who sexually abused her ‘used my vulnerability and the fact I wasn’t popular’
Aisling’s headteacher gave her extra reading lessons and pretended he thought her opinions were important.
In fact, he was grooming her for sexual abuse.
read full account of Cormacs experienceCormac dreamed of being a football star, so he did not speak out about being abused by his coach
Cormac was thrilled to be spotted by a scout for a First Division football club.
He was afraid to report that his coach was sexually abusing him, in case he spoiled his chances of success.
read full account of Noahs experienceNoah thinks the causes of behavioural changes in children need to be identified
Noah was sexually abused by a priest and an older child. These experiences caused behavioural problems for him at school and led him to cut himself off from the church and lose his faith.
His says the impact of the abuse on his mental health was made worse by his dealings with the police when he reported it.