More needs to be done to help young victims
TV presenter Charlie Webster was abused by her running coach as a teen, causing lasting trauma into adulthood. She shares her rallying cry for better support to help fellow young victims of sexual abuse
After suffering sexual abuse at the hands of her running coach as a teenager, TV presenter Charlie Webster is now calling for more support to be offered to fellow young victims.
She has now sent two open letters to Parliament, following the return of the Victims and Prisoners Bill for Committee stage, with 200 signatures backed the NSPCC, Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis.
“The way we deal with sexual abuse is wrong,” says the former Sky Sports host, 41, who splits her time between London and LA.
“Young victims of sexual abuse are being forgotten. More needs to be done. Policy needs to change.
“I know first hand the lasting trauma that sexual abuse at a young age can bring, and the lack of support that follows – even when the abuser is convicted. I was on my own.”
Charlie grew up in Sheffield and her early life was a struggle. “My mum had me as a teen and we were poor,” she says. “There were bailiffs at the door. Mum often went without eating so I could.”
When she was seven, her mum’s new partner moved in and soon began to emotionally abuse her. “He’d say he’d make sure he had my mum all to himself, that I was worthless,” says Charlie, an ambassador for Women’s Aid and an NSPCC campaigner for childhood.
“He’d hit me to ‘toughen me up’ and then when I cried would hit me some more. I was scared to make a noise in the house for fear he’d notice me and hurt me, I knew where every creaky floorboard was.” At 11, naturally gifted athlete Charlie found solace in a local running club. And at first, it was a place of escape.
“I felt good there – like I was worth something. Running was a release too,” says Charlie, a sports broadcaster who made history by becoming the first female presenter of boxing coverage in 2014. But at 14, coach Paul North began a campaign of grooming and sexual abuse that would continue until she left the club at 17. “I sometimes confided in my coach because something happened at home. And he took advantage of that. It was insidious,” explains Charlie. “He set me up with private sessions, saying I was really good and he could make me better. I felt special, and the extra training did help at first – I was winning races. But then stretching was added to the programme and he would push himself up against me. Then it became massage. Then it became sexual.” Charlie left the club at 17.
Two years later, North was
convicted, after multiple other girls from the club came forward about the sexual abuse they had endured. He got 10 years in prison, convicted of several counts of indecent assault and one count of rape, and was placed on the sex offenders’ register.
But the trauma inflicted by sexual abuse doesn’t just stop. “I felt validated and glad he was stopped but the overwhelming feeling was shame and fear. I didn’t understand then that it wasn’t my fault. Sexual abuse takes away your identity,” says Charlie. Shortly after North’s conviction, Charlie’s friend Georgina committed suicide as a result of her own experience. Last January, another member of the running club, Katie Shone, took her own life at 38. “Their deaths show how much trauma is inflicted by sexual abuse, and how long that trauma carries on,” says Charlie, who sits on the Ministry of Justice’s victims advisory panel, calling for more support for young victims of sexual abuse. “I was never helped to understand what had happened to me and to deal with the harm it caused, or told it wasn’t my fault. I believe Katie and Georgina would still be here if we hadn’t been left on our own as teenagers to deal with what had happened. I don’t want anyone to have to go through that. It’s horrific to go through sexual abuse but then to be left with no support is so damaging.” The Victims and Prisoners Bill is now under further scrutiny in the report stages. Charlie says: “It’s
important to continue the conversation and make it clear this Bill can’t be passed without commitment to specialist support. Both MPs and Lords have tabled these amendments.” The Bill’s original goal was putting victims at the heart of the justice system.
“The Government has repeatedly said that but isn’t backing it,” says Charlie. “Victims need support whether they go through the justice system or not. Right now, going through the system is retraumatising.
“We have to understand what a victim has been through and that they need to be helped through what’s happened to them.” Clare Kelly, associate head of policy at the NPSCC, says: “We admire Charlie’s bravery in sharing her experiences and passionately campaigning for the rights of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
“We only need to look at calls from children to Childline to see the devastating long-term impact it can have. Victims and survivors are waiting 14 months on average before cases even get to court and telling us how difficult it can be to receive the support they need to recover.
“We must do better. The Government is starting to show a real commitment to changing things through the Victims and Prisoners Bill, but until they look at improving access to services that deliver long-term crucial therapeutic support, there will be more children who will have experiences like Charlie stretching into adulthood.”
Charlie sought therapy herself in her mid-30s, and began the process of healing. This month saw the release of her new book, Why It’s Ok To Talk About Trauma – part memoir, part self-help, the writing of which she says was cathartic. “It’s a long road and abuse silences you. I’ve been learning to find my voice again after a long time,” she says.
“I now feel comfortable sharing what happened to me, and I hope it’ll make others going through something similar realise they’re not alone. I hope the Government acts soon. Support is quite literally a lifeline, and desperately needed for those who are young victims of sexual abuse.”
■■Why It’s Ok To Talk About Trauma by Charlie Webster (£16.99, Headline) is out now
‘‘
I was never helped to understand what had happened to me