Camille

Camille’s family was known to social services because her father was alcoholic and abusive. 

Camille was sexually abused by two of her uncles and wishes that social workers had talked to her about what her life was like.

When Camille was about seven years old, she and her siblings went to stay with one of her parent’s uncles.

During the night she went to the toilet and realised her uncle, Alain, was watching her. He pulled down her pants, touched her and got her to touch his penis. She says while he was doing this, he was talking about sex, and ‘trying to make a joke of it’.

Camille remembers being worried about her siblings, and calling out to them. She never told her parents what had happened, but about two years later, she told another of her uncles, Fergus. He responded by sexually abusing her in a similar way.

Social workers visited the home because of Camille’s violent and alcoholic father, but they never asked her how she was. 

Camille says ‘I was never the same child after the abuse’. In the following years, she was unable to concentrate at school and frequently truanted. She ran away from home, got into fights and was taken into care for a time.

She has PTSD, has abused alcohol and suffers with her mental health. She struggles with intimacy and relationships. 

Alain was later convicted of abuse and died in prison. Camille feels responsible for not reporting him because she feels it might have stopped him abusing others.

Camille was labelled ‘a difficult child’ and her family were known as ‘troubled’. She would like there to be a greater awareness that children are not just ‘naughty’ and the causes of their behaviour should be considered.

She adds that children should be encouraged to talk about their concerns, and that there should be more funding to help victims and survivors of abuse who develop addictions.

Camille feels very protective towards her own children. She has spoken to them about her experiences of child sexual abuse.