Dark truth of child sex abuse
REVEALED: Devastating ‘ Truth Project’ report shows sickening paedophile attacks by teachers, doctors and social workers are far more widespread than previously feared – as survivors share their heartbreaking stories
A DEVASTATING report will this week expose the scale and impact of child sexual abuse across the UK.
Researchers have found that abuse is widespread across all communities and social classes – and believe it has been perpetrated in schools and other institutions much more widely than previously thought.
The report – obtained by The Mail on Sunday – is based on the biggest archive of evidence by abuse victims and survivors ever assembled in this country.
It presents detailed accounts from 50 of the 1,400 people who have so far given evidence to the Truth Project, part of the huge Independent I nquiry on Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) set up by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary.
Some have waited decades to tell their stories. The oldest victim who has spoken to the project is 95 and many are in their 70s and 80s. About a third have descri bed a buse perpetrated at least 50 years ago.
One woman, named in the report as Nancy, told how she was repeatedly raped from the age of five by a farm l abourer after she was evacuated from London during the Blitz. Until now, she had never spoken of what happened. She told investigators it made her ‘cross that people don’t seem to realise child sexual abuse is not a new phenomenon’, and there were ‘apparently no checks on people who took in evacuees’.
Victims who contact the Truth Project give their accounts to a trained facilitator, with no end in mind other than finally allowing them to speak about what for many has been an agonising secret. The relief can be enormous.
‘For the first time in 50 years I felt I was believed, one victim said. ‘I was treated with the utmost respect by all involved, receiving counselling before and after from a lovely lady.’
Another said: ‘For 49 years I have had a dark secret which burdened me with feelings of depression, anger, self-loathing and worthlessness. The Truth Project provided me with a safe environment to tell my story. I was given a voice that started the healing.’
Analysis by IICSA shows 53 per cent of witnesses who spoke to the project have so far been women, while 94 per cent of perpetrators were men.
Forty per cent of victims were aged between three and seven when their abuse started and 32 per cent between eight and 11. More than a third endured multiple ‘episodes’ of abuse.
They described a wide range of consequences in later life, including depression (33 per cent), difficulties with trust and intimacy (28 per cent), thoughts of suicide (28 per cent) and actual suicide attempts (22 per cent).
It is often claimed that most sexual abuse takes place within families. But only 28 per cent of witnesses say they were abused by relatives. Shockingly, around a quarter were abused by teachers or other educational staff, and a fifth by adult family friends or ‘trusted members of the community’.
Fourteen per cent wer e abused by members o f the clergy, 12 per cent by professionals such as doctors and social workers, and nine per cent by residential care workers.
Rebekah Eglinton, one of IICSA’s clinical psychologists, works closely with the Truth Project. She said: ‘We’re learning that many people have put themselves in positions of trust and authority to have access to children. It feels really important that we are here. People tell us again and again how silenced they have felt. This is an opportunity to end that silence and so to hear how we can better protect children.’
Dru Sharpling, the former Crown Prosecutor for London, is the IICSA panel member who heads up the Truth Project. She said some victims’ testimony has been referred to the police, leading to 14 perpetrators being convicted of child sexual abuse so far.
She added: ‘ Listening to these accounts can be extremely moving. For some, it’s the first time they’ve disclosed. Others have tried and not been believed.
‘Yet often there were signs when they were still children that something was very wrong – which were not picked up. Sharing these experiences is of inherent value but they will also help IICSA make recommendations to protect children in future.’
The Truth Project continues and those wanting to share their experiences can call 0800 917 1000 or visit truthproject.org.uk.