More support needed to encourage victims to come forward and report being raped or sexually assaulted

DAVE Sharp understands more t h a n most t he l i fe -long t rau ma a nd desperation caused by being raped.

As a child growing up in care in Fife, Dave, now 59, was trafficked to Ireland before being drugged and raped by multiple men.

His childhood memories have haunted him his entire life but he has now spent many years leading his campaign Safe (Seek And Find Everyone Abused in Childhood).

Dave has campaigned i n Dundee many times and for more than 20 years has seen hundreds of men and woman come forward and have their voices heard.

He believes the ever-increasing numbers tells its own tale of inadequate funding and inadequate monitoring and a complete lack of education and awareness.

One of his most abiding memories from his own childhood was an incident that took place in the Catholic church care home he lived in for the first 16 years of his life.

Dave said: “One night I was taken down to the shower rooms by one of the Christian Brothers.

“I was blindfolded and had my arms tied behind my back.

“I had a noose tied around my neck and I was hung from the shower.

“The Christian Brother said to me that if I did not do what he told me I would be murdered. “He then beat and raped me. “Over the next six years I was taken out of the home and I was trafficked all over Scotland.

“I was also sent over to Ireland on several occasions where I was taken to a house along with other boys where there were Satanic sex parties going on.

“I was drugged and pelted with tomatoes and strawberries and had red wine poured all over me before being raped by multiple men.”

The abuse Dave suffered as a child led to him trying to take his own life on at least five occasions.

Last year, the campaigner came to Dundee to spread the message Safe was trying to deliver.

He spoke about his concern that there are many hidden sexual abuse victims living in the area.

Now he has spoken about his fears that male prostitution and childhood trafficking are still taking place across Dundee and the Tayside region.

Dave was speaking after a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Tele revealed a huge spike in the number of men who have reported being raped across Tayside in the past six months.

Last year, four men aged 16 and above filed reports with police. Since April, that number has shot up to 13.

Over the last five years, reports of male cases have accounted for an average of 6% of all rapes in the area. However, since April male rape reports have increased to 14% of the total.

Dave said: “Whatever the number of male rapes in Dundee, it is too high.

“The ever-increasing numbers tell their own tale of inadequate funding and monitoring and a complete lack of education and awareness. Despite sex crimes having a notoriously low report rate I have met men who have been raped many times.

“We live in a country where for years men have grown up being taught that they should not be emotional and shouldn’t cry and this only makes the most vulnerable people easier targets.

“Couple this with the fact that there is no one for victims to call and they just go into a shell and in many cases continue to be abused.

“They have been left to go through the revolving doors of homelessness, drugs, crime and prison and no one gives a damn.

“I spent 25 years going through these revolving doors.

“Dundee is full of people suffering the same.

“Many of these homeless people live in such a small community like Dundee where everyone knows each other so it is more dangerous to talk about sexual abuse or assault because the more people you know the quicker it will spread and there is more chance of being left isolated and vulnerable.”

If you have been affected by anything in our series of articles so far, Rape Crisis Scotland can be contacted on 08088 010302.