Anne was hospitalised with a severe urinary infection, but no one questioned the reason for this
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Anne was sexually abused by her family doctor.
She says ‘My family were well-disposed to him and thought he was a lovely old man’.
Anne grew up in the 1950s and 60s. Her mother was busy working during the day, so she often sent her children out on errands or to appointments on their own.
When Anne was 10 years old she had to go to the family doctor, Dr Smith, and her mum said ‘You’re a big girl, you can go on your own’.
Dr Smith’s surgery was in his house, which was quite usual for that time. He sexually abused Anne during the appointment, and several more times on other occasions. The abuse included digital penetration and oral abuse.
Anne remembers the surgery receptionist coming into the room when Dr Smith was abusing her, and he shouted at the woman for not knocking first. Looking back, Anne says the receptionist must have seen what happened, but she didn’t say anything.
Anne has seen her medical records. At the age of 11, she was suffering with a persistent urinary tract infection and was continually sore. She remembers being so uncomfortable she couldn’t sit down and she was in such pain over Christmas she was admitted to hospital.
In some ways, Anne says, ‘I struggle with forgiving my mum … she never asked any questions’.
Anne adds that her parents completely trusted Dr Smith. He was elderly, and he died when she was about 12. By this time Anne was going to a different GP, but she doesn’t recall the reasons for the change.
Several decades later, she is still significantly impacted by the abuse. She feels she has to be constantly vigilant and has difficulty sleeping. She is reluctant to seek medical attention and finds it hard to trust men in positions of power and authority. At times, she has found it difficult to manage her feelings of anger.
From a conversation with one of her siblings, and comments on social media, Anne believes that Dr Smith sexually abused other children.
She has several ideas about how children could be better protected from sexual abusers. She says that medical professionals should be trained to understand the need to ask permission to touch a certain part of a child or adult’s body.
Anne believes that sex education for children should be compulsory and should emphasise the important issue of consent, and parents should not have the right to withdraw their children from it.
She says that no child should be medically examined on their own but a trained chaperone should always be present. She adds that any member of staff who witnesses any abuse should report it immediately and ‘whistleblowers’ must be protected.
Anne has a very supportive long-term partner and has had counselling which she says has given her a good insight into how she has been affected by her experiences.
She concludes ‘No one wants to be cast as a victim … my way of coping is I’m a survivor’.