These are some of the experiences of child sexual abuse shared with the Truth Project by victims and survivors. All names and identifying details have been changed.
Download a PDF sample of accountsread full account of Abdals experienceAbdal says ‘Everyone knew I needed help … they failed me’
Abdal had an extremely difficult childhood and his behavioural problems led to him being taken into care.
He describes a catalogue of abuse, some perpetrated on him, and some that he witnessed being done to other children.
read full account of Josephines experienceJosephine says the stigma of divorce made her family vulnerable to sexual abuse by Catholic priests
Josephine’s Catholic mum was a single parent with mixed-race children.
She believes this made their family a target for grooming and sexual abuse by predatory clergymen.
read full account of Harriets experienceHarriet feels that poor communication by the police has made her ordeal even worse
Harriet was raped repeatedly over five years by a teenager who lived in her neighbourhood.
The police said there was not enough evidence to prosecute the abuser, but reopened the case when another victim came forward.
read full account of Concettas experienceConcetta says victims and survivors should be better prepared for what might happen in court
When Concetta was in her early teens, she was groomed, abused and raped by a music tutor.
She found the court case extremely harrowing, and after serving a short sentence the abuser returned to live in her home area.
read full account of Aesons experienceAeson says that the majority of Deaf people he has spoken to have suffered some form of abuse
Aeson is Deaf and his first language is British Sign Language (BSL).
He suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse in schools for deaf children where many staff humiliated and shamed pupils for their disability.
read full account of Darcys experienceAn older man showed Darcy sympathy after she was raped, and then went on to abuse her
When she was about 13, Darcy was raped by a 19-year-old neighbour in his house. She did not feel her mother or the police believed her account of what had happened.
Another neighbour pretended to be supportive, but in reality was an opportunistic abuser. Darcy says her confusion over his behaviour left her unable to distinguish between sexual advances and friendship, and made her vulnerable to even more abuse.
read full account of Coras experienceCora says children should be educated from an early age about consent and their right to say ‘no’
When Cora was a small child, she was interviewed by police and allocated a social worker because she had been sexually abused.
However, no one took the time to gain her trust, and she was not given any counselling, so she was not able to talk about it.
read full account of Pollies experienceSocial services pressured Pollie to allow her stepfather back home after he had sexually abused her
Pollie’s mother found the ‘shame’ of being a single mother very difficult and married a man her daughter did not like.
Even after he admitted sexually abusing Pollie, he was allowed to return to the family home.
read full account of Ruths experienceRuth’s grandfather ‘was not the upstanding member of the community he appeared to be’
When Ruth visited her grandfather in a nursing home, memories of child sexual abuse began coming back to her.
She spent most of her school holidays in her grandparents’ house and recalls this was where her grandfather started sexually abusing her.
read full account of Megyns experienceMegyn says the only time her teacher was ‘nice’ to her was when he sexually abused her
Megyn describes herself as ‘an extremely withdrawn and shy little girl’ with no friends.
She was labelled a ‘dunce’ by a teacher, who separated her from her classmates and sexually abused her.
read full account of Dexs experienceDex felt it was ‘cool’ when a teacher befriended him, but this man sexually abused him
Dex was bullied at school, and his mother asked a teacher to try and help.
But this teacher took advantage of Dex’s vulnerability and sexually abused him.
read full account of Bonnies experienceBonnie strongly believes that schools and health practitioners should pick up the signs of abuse
Bonnie’s father was a violent man who physically abused his wife and son and sexually abused her and her elder sister.
She describes living in total fear of her father. His violence was so extreme that he inflicted severe injuries upon her mother.