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 Eleanor s experienceEleanor says that in child sexual abuse cases ‘It’s difficult to think that women can do this…’
Eleanor’s home life was chaotic. She was abused by a lodger when she was a small child, and later by her step-father and her mother, who plied her with drugs and alcohol.
She moved schools frequently and her attendance was erratic. But the only time any teaching staff contacted her, it was to ask for the return of a musical instrument she had borrowed.
read full account of Betsys experienceBetsy’s parents gave her away to a couple who sexually abused her
Betsy says her parents didn’t want a girl.
They did not check she would be safe in the unofficial adoption arrangement they made for her.
read full account of Kayleighs experienceWhen Kayleigh repeatedly reported sexual abuse, the responses from parents and police were not good enough
Kayleigh attended a small, rural primary school. When she was 11 years old, the school children used to take a coach to go swimming once a week.
The headmaster, Mr Appleby, would send the boys into the coach and make Kayleigh and the other girls in her class stay in the classroom. He would close the blinds, lock the door and make the girls take off their clothes and get changed. He would sit on a chair amongst them, watching them and rocking back and forward.
read full account of Mariahs experienceMariah says ‘We need to invest in children’
Mariah was sexually abused by her father after he returned from active service in the military.
She feels more resources should be directed to victims and survivors, and also perpetrators, to help protect children.
read full account of Selinas experienceSelina feels there should be more support available for victims and survivors
Selina’s family were supportive when she told them she had been sexually abused as a child.
However, she felt let down by police and court procedures and is concerned that these systems have not improved.
read full account of Kazs experienceKaz feels let down and frustrated that her family did not act on signs she was being sexually abused
When Kaz told her family she had been sexually abused as a young child, she was shocked to hear they had suspected that was the case.
She had also been taken to the doctor several times with a recurring urinary infection.
read full account of Augusts experienceThe adult female who sexually abused August groomed him by making him feel safe and cared for
August came from a troubled background and was sent to a school for children with emotional and behavioural disorders.
He was groomed and sexually abused by a female staff member, which his contemporaries thought was funny and something he should be proud of.
read full account of Karls experienceKarl says ‘The church has colluded again and again’ to suppress the truth about child sexual abuse
Karl was sexually abused in the 1960s by a member of the Church Army.
His parents told the church, but the abuser was allowed to progress in his career.
read full account of Faridas experienceFarida says ‘I don’t know how I’ve survived all this … there must be something strong in me’
As a child, Farida was imprisoned, deprived of education, beaten, raped and sent abroad to be forcibly married.
She was missing from school for several years, but no one in authority pursued her family to find out why.
read full account of Jonahs experienceFor decades, Jonah had no memories of several years of his childhood and early adolescence.
Jonah was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness in a family he describes as ‘quite dysfunctional’. This was picked up by the elders and other members of their congregation and Jonah remembers that they were offered a lot of support.
He wonders if this may have made him appear vulnerable to the grooming and abuse that was to come.
read full account of Bernadettes experienceBernadette has worked hard not to repeat behaviour she was subjected to as a child
Bernadette describes a family life that was chaotic and abusive.
She was placed in care but the system did not protect her from sexual abuse and exploitation.
read full account of Lawries experienceLawrie says for many years, he ‘coped’ with being sexually abused by not thinking or talking about it
When Lawrie was sexually abused at the age of nine, he didn’t understand it but he knew it was wrong.
Decades later, after the Jimmy Savile scandal came to light, he decided to speak about the abuse for the first time.