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 Elizes experienceElize says her family life was challenging, but she was not abused until she was taken into care
When Elize was 10 years old she was placed in foster care where she was sexually abused.
Elize and her sibling were sent to the same foster home. The foster father sexually abused Elize. He would come into her bedroom at night and put his hand down her pyjamas. He forced her hand around his penis and tried to make her masturbate him.
read full account of Almudenas experienceAlmudena did not want to say in front of her mother that she was being sexually abused
As a young child, Almudena had to care for her mother who had physical and mental health problems.
She was sexually abused by two men. Social workers were involved with the family, but she never saw them on her own and did not feel able to tell them what was happening to her.
read full account of Meris experienceMeri thinks she would have been smacked if she’d reported the man who sexually abused her
Meri says that as a child in the 1970s, it would not have occurred to her to report an adult for any wrongdoing.
She has spoken in detail for the first time about the sexual abuse she experienced, and says she is glad to have done so.
read full account of Susies experienceSusie got no affection from her parents. ‘The only time I was touched was when I was messed with’
Susie had a very difficult childhood, with a father who was violent and abusive, and a mother who did not seem to care about her.
She says she looked unkempt and neglected, and she did refer to being abused more than once to people in authority, but no one followed up on what she said.
read full account of Leonies experienceLeonie would like to see better provision for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse who are deaf
Leonie was sexually abused by a family member.
Some time later, a sports coach at a centre for the deaf also sexually abused her.
read full account of Albertos experienceAlberto wants to share his experience because he believes abuse is endemic in the church
Alberto was nine years old when his father died. Soon after this loss, relatives persuaded him to get involved with church activities.
A vicar took advantage of his vulnerability and sexually abused him.
read full account of Alvitas experienceAlvita says ‘I believe in speaking up because I’ve been silent for so long and it doesn’t help anyone’
Alvita says that being sexually abused at a young age by a relative ‘opened up doors for other people to touch me’.
She feels that institutions that should have protected her may have been less concerned about her because she is black.
read full account of Terries experienceTerrie says ‘Children need support and not judgment’
Terrie describes a chaotic childhood. By the time she was taken into care, she had already been sexually abused and raped.
The care system did not protect her from further abuse.
read full account of Tinas experienceTina developed a teenage crush on a teacher who was a controlling abuser
Tina was groomed and abused by Roy, a married teacher at her school. She was a teenager at the time.
She developed a crush on him, which he encouraged. He was charming, and she says it seemed to be common knowledge among other staff that he liked to talk to the girls at the school.
read full account of Gaynors experience‘As an adult, when I looked back at my childhood, I didn’t like what I saw’ says Gaynor
Gaynor says she has only recently realised that her marriage was founded on child sexual abuse.
She was groomed from the age of 15 by a man in a youth group, and married him when she was 16.
read full account of Sharons experienceSharon said ‘I am still alive, I came to the Truth Project because I could have been dead’
Sharon describes her childhood as lonely, growing up in a family where her father sexually abused her, and her mother was frequently under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication.
She describes the humiliation of experiencing bowel difficulties in the school classroom as a result of the sexual abuse. She remembers realising that other girls at school did not have to do to their fathers what she had to, and that their fathers did not do the things to them that her father did to her.
read full account of Benicio-Dwaynes experienceBenicio-Dwayne says ‘A care order should mean just that – that care is given and that children are supported’
Benicio-Dwayne grew up with a brother and a sister, but he does not recall much about them.
What he does remember of his family life is neglect, and physical and emotional abuse from his violent and unpredictable parents. And when he was placed with a foster family, he suffered sexual abuse.