Lorraine says when she was growing up, children ‘were all but dismissed’
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Lorraine was sexually abused by a teacher, who was also a local dignitary.
She was told off for talking about the abuse, which made her reluctant to complain when another man in the community also abused her.
Lorraine grew up in the 1960s and 70s. When she was about 10, her primary school teacher, Mr A, sexually abused her and other female pupils. The teacher used to get the girls to stand by his desk and touch the girls under their clothes and underwear.
Mr A was known as a ‘dirty old man’ among the pupils. The head teacher of the school joined in with the sexual abuse of female pupils. He and Mr A would go into the changing rooms to watch the girls getting dressed after swimming lessons, even ‘assisting’ them on occasions.
Mr A was seen as a distinguished member of the community – he had served in the armed forces, and for a time he was a local civic official. He was also involved in the church.
Lorraine did speak to her father about Mr A, but he told her off, saying ‘don’t talk so dirty’.
About a year later, the owner of a local shop sexually abused Lorraine, on the pretext of punishing her for stealing something. Because of the way her father had reacted to what she said about Mr A, Lorraine kept quiet about the second abuser.
The shopkeeper was eventually prosecuted and convicted for sexually abusing Lorraine, and several other girls.
Lorraine found the court experience very daunting. By this time she had children of her own and the memories of being sexually abused were very distressing. She did not receive any support after the court case. She applied for compensation and did receive an award, but the process was unsympathetic, chaotic and very drawn out.
She feels a lot could be done to improve the process of challenging awards offered to victims of child sexual abuse, and if she had known what the experience was going to be like, she would not have applied. Lorraine would also like to see more support available to victims and survivors during court cases.
Lorraine feels the sexual abuse she suffered during her childhood affected her in later life. She feels concerned that abusers ‘all seem to have each other's backs’.
She would like to see more education on child sexual abuse for adults in the workplace, parents, and children in schools, although she says this has improved since the 1970s. Back then, she says, there seemed to be no one to tell who would act on the allegations they heard from children.