In the two places that Brittany should have been able to call home, she was sexually abused
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Brittany’s parents were separated. During her chaotic childhood she mainly lived with her mum, who had different partners, and sometimes with her dad.
But she was not safe in either place. Both the father figures in her life sexually abused her.
One of Brittany’s earliest memories as a very small child is of her first stepfather raping her mother in front of her. After some time her mother left this man and took the family to live with a relative.
When Brittany was about six years old her biological father came back into her life. She was sent to stay with him some weekends, and during these visits, he began to sexually abuse her.
Brittany’s mother then met another man and he moved into the family home. By the time Brittany was 11 years old, her new stepfather was also sexually abusing her.
After this, she says, her behaviour deteriorated and she began to get into trouble. She remembers refusing to go home from school one day when she was about 11 or 12.
Social services were involved but they did not investigate the cause of Brittany’s behaviour. Brittany says she wasn’t able to find the words to tell her mother what the adult males in her life had been doing to her.
Then social services realised that Brittany’s stepfather had a previous conviction for child sexual abuse. The children were removed from the family home but still no one asked Brittany if anything had happened to her while he had been living with them.
At this stage, Brittany was sent to live with her biological father. He continued to sexually abuse her. When she was in her mid teens, Brittany went to the police to report her father. She did a video interview but the case did not proceed.
Her behaviour at school became even worse and she ended up living with her mother again and her second stepfather continued to abuse her. Brittany is sure her mother was aware but did nothing about it.
Despite her difficult home life, Brittany did well at school.
A court case followed and her stepfather, her abuser, was convicted and sentenced to a long term in prison. Brittany says she was happy with the court process and felt the judge treated her sympathetically. Now the case relating to sexual abuse by her father has been reopened.
Because of the abuse Brittany suffers with mental health difficulties. When she was younger she self-harmed and she still has nightmares and problems sleeping.
She feels she should not have been placed into harmful situations with her abusive father and stepfathers, and she would like there to be more effective monitoring of the Sexual Offenders Register.
She also feels she was let down by her school who failed to spot the signs of abuse. She says she might have spoken out if there had been someone to talk to at school.