Helen Grant MP

Prior to becoming the MP for Maidstone and the Weald, I was a family lawyer for 23 years. One of my most harrowing cases came to me as a ‘straightforward’ injunction referral from the local police.

I was asked by my client ‘X’ to get a court order to prevent persons ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ from having any contact with ‘X’. It was, however, the proverbial tip of an iceberg. Many months later I’d uncovered long running allegations of physical, sexual and ritualistic child abuse, reaching far wider than those directly involved in my case, the details of which still trouble me.

Sadly and commonly the facts in such cases can take so long to come forward for a myriad of reasons; some connected with continuing control by the perpetrator, or fear that the victim will be disbelieved, but also sometimes because the subject of the abuse (wrongly) feels somehow partly to blame for what happened. The uncovering of decades of child sex abuse in football over the past weeks has been an outpouring of sadness, but I also believe it could be a watershed.

Some courageous people have suddenly felt empowered to speak out, abandon anonymity and seek justice. In doing so they have put the establishment on immediate notice that change and accountability is about to weigh heavily upon them. This is not just a football issue. It pervades all reaches of society, in every generation, where the trust of a younger person is preyed upon by someone in a position of power, influence and control.

I hope this publicity will help others realise they do not have to suffer in silence, and by speaking out they may help protect others from suffering similar trauma. Please contact the NSPCC to report something that has happened to you or someone you know via http://bit.ly/2gyvIS3.