Viola felt completely isolated: the only people in her life physically and sexually abused her
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
After her parents separated, Viola’s life descended into chaos.
She came to the attention of the police and social services several times, but was not protected from sexual and physical abuse.
Viola says her family life was happy until her parents’ marriage broke up. Her mother developed new friendships and did not always care adequately for Viola and her siblings. Sometimes the children went to live with their father.
Viola says they were well cared for, but the arrangement became strained because of financial pressures and she was sent back to her mother. Soon after, her mother’s boyfriend, Geoff, was released from prison, and they moved in with him.
Viola felt uncomfortable with Geoff from the start. She was 11 years old and he asked her to start writing to a friend of his who was in jail. He began to physically abuse her – on one occasion he beat her with a belt and although her mother was close by she did not intervene. A neighbour called the police but Viola was too afraid to tell them what had happened.
After this incident, Geoff stopped Viola from going out to see her father or anyone else. He then began taking her to a neighbour’s flat where he raped her. She believes her mum knew what was happening but was too scared to intervene.
When Geoff’s friend, Ian, who Viola had been writing to, was released from prison, he came to stay with them and he too raped her.
One day Viola’s mother announced they would all be moving to another city. Ian went with them. They slept on the street the first night and were then placed in a hostel. Both men, who were regular drug users, continued to physically and sexually abuse Viola. Geoff once punched her in the face so hard he dislocated her jaw.
Still her mother did nothing to protect her, and she was not allowed to have any contact with her father.
When Viola was in her early teens she became pregnant, but lost the baby after Geoff beat her.
Soon after this, Ian took Viola on a chaotic trip, sleeping rough and staying with people he knew. He continued to abuse her. On more than one occasion, she was picked up by the police but Ian lied about her age and background, and they did not ask her about her situation or question her true identity or age.
After another incident, Viola was placed in juvenile detention for a time, and discovered she was pregnant when she came out. She was still in her early teens. She describes how utterly confused she felt about whether Ian was her partner. She was sure no one would believe what was happening to her.
For a time, she was reunited with her father who had reported her as a missing person and been looking for her. For the previous 18 months he had been asking the police and social services for help, but they took no action because she was under the care of her mother.
Viola was still very confused about the nature of her relationship with Ian and she stayed in contact with him. When she was in her mid teens, she moved in with him. Social services had put Viola’s baby on the child protection register and were aware of this move. Ian continued to abuse her physically and sexually until she phoned her father and begged him to come and get her.
Later, the police investigated Geoff for abuse, and he was sentenced to prison. No charges were brought against Ian, who for a time continued threatening Viola.
Viola feels that the authorities should have raised concerns about her disappearance from school. She adds that the police had plenty of opportunities to question who she was and why she was in such risky situations, and that social services should have done more to protect her.
Viola has suffered from long-term depression. Until she heard that both Geoff and Ian had died, she lived in constant fear. For many years she had no trust of other people and no close friends.
She had counselling, and says that her family have given meaning to her life.