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 Lucies experienceLucie was devastated when the police said they could not prosecute the man who raped her as a child
Lucie was raped when she was five years old by a young teenage boy.
She feels angry that because of a legal technicality, he cannot be prosecuted.
read full account of Vaylas experienceVayla says of her childhood, ‘I can’t remember one normal day’
Vayla was subjected to years of sexual abuse and rape by her sadistic father and is still haunted by her horrific childhood experiences.
The family home was raided twice by the police but they did not talk to the children.
read full account of Millicents experienceMillicent says ‘Being told that you are loved does not mean that the person loves you’
Millicent loved music and her parents paid for her to have private lessons.
The tutor groomed her and raped her scores of times, while maintaining that he cared about her.
read full account of Joshuas experienceJoshua was repeatedly let down by people and authorities and suffers mental health issues
Joshua was sexually abused as a young teenager by his adoptive father Davy, who he describes as a ‘local celebrity’.
A conviction was secured against Davy, after another victim came forward. However, this was some time after Joshua first told people in authority about the sexual abuse and his experience was that he was not believed, and no action was taken because of his reports.
read full account of Jareds experienceJared says ‘You have a feeling of guilt that you have caused it all … that it’s your fault’
The teacher who sexually abused Jared was later arrested for offences against other children.
When this became public knowledge, Jared was bullied and verbally abused by boys at his school, which added to his trauma.
read full account of Nicoles experienceNicole says ‘the responses to my disclosure have caused me a lifetime of struggle’
Nicole’s father died when she was four years old, and her mother got remarried to a violent and abusive man.
Her troubled and chaotic home life, with no supportive parenting, made her vulnerable to a series of sexual assaults from older boys, and later to further abuse by an adult relative.
read full account of Gabriellas experienceGabriella is concerned that sexual abuse is seen as a ‘rite of passage’ in some boarding schools
Gabriella was sexually abused by older boys in a boarding school.
She says ‘Boarding school is seen as a privilege and therefore children will not feel able to complain’.
read full account of Zanders experienceZander says the teacher who abused him ‘gave me a life sentence, so he could have his fun’
Zander has felt tormented most of his life by memories of being sexually abused by a teacher at his private school.
As an adult he tried to get justice, but feels he was badly let down by the legal process.
read full account of Montys experienceMonty says ‘Even today, after all this time, I can see it all’
Monty still experiences vivid flashbacks of the abuse he was subjected to more than 60 years ago.
However, he feels he manages his life well and says there are many things he enjoys and takes comfort from.
read full account of Owains experienceOwain says he does not have negative emotions about what he experienced, but now knows it was abuse
Owain was sexually abused for about five years by a friend of his older brother.
He says that at the time, the experience was not negative and he does not feel it had a ‘huge emotional impact’ on him. He says he feels very emotionally disconnected from the abuse, and wonders if this is a coping mechanism.
read full account of Amys experienceThe police told Amy that she couldn’t destroy a man’s life just because she said that he had abused her
Amy suffered mental and physical abuse within her family and did not have a good relationship with her mother. Social services was a major part of her life, with regular meetings on all aspects of her care. She says a number of incidents of abuse have left her feeling angry and frustrated with both social services and the police.
When Amy was a pre-teen, she began chatting on a teen website to Alex, who she believed to be an 18-year-old male but turned out to be male teacher.
read full account of Wasibas experienceAs a survivor of sexual abuse, Wasiba now challenges the attitudes of men in her family
Wasiba was brought up in a large Muslim family. When she was eight years old her father deserted them.
He had been violent towards Wasiba’s mother, and she says it was a relief to be away from him. But older male cousins and their friends began to sexually abuse her, threatening to tell her family if she disobeyed them.