Child Sexual Exploitation After Rotherham
Understanding the Consequences and Recommendations for Practice
Adele Gladman and Angie Heal
Forewords by T, Survivor of organised child sexual abuse in Rotherham and Anne Longfield, OBE, Childrens Commissioner for England
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
A Survivors Foreword
First, I would like to write about how this whole thing has affected my life. Before all this came out nationally I felt alone, ashamed of myself, degraded and hurt. I thought I was the only person in Rotherham that had gone through such horrific things. And all this was made more believable because the people who you are supposed to put your trust in are the very people that allowed me to feel it was my fault and that I didnt need to pursue what would have been the right course of action. Thats why in 2001 I had to make the decision to put it in a box, buried to the far back of my memory shelf, to be able to move forward and protect me and my baby.
I was well aware of the fact that South Yorkshire Police thought they had no duty of care towards me and my family while I was pregnant and just after having the baby. The only people that was ready to protect me and my baby was my family. We had threats to me and the unborn baby, but the police wasnt concerned and passed them off as empty threats. I knew these people and I knew they were serious. They all knew that the baby was DNA evidence to convict one of them, so I had to hide away. I stayed indoors and focused on school. Once the baby was born there was threats to kidnap. But these were also passed off by the police. I had no trust in them at all. There was clearly some sort of hush hush cover up going on, but because I was 13 I didnt understand what protection should have been implemented. My family questioned the way things were, but was reassured everything was under control and not to worry. Social services and South Yorkshire Police never wanted to help my mum on the several occasions she took me to them, or the numerous telephone calls she made. We was always sent away with comments such as she is OK, she comes home eventually. My mum informed them every time that it was older Asian men that was keeping me hidden away for days. They didnt seem to care. It was all as if nothing mattered. Me as a teenager started believing everything the perpetrators were saying, because of all this lack of protection and help from the police and social services.
The only time they came running was when my family rang to inform them after begging for help and not receiving it that Id become pregnant. They were there the same day coming up with plans to help, but in reality they were busy creating the barriers to cover it all up the fact that I was 12 years old and pregnant. There were injunctions, child protection, and so on. This meant by this point newspapers and television couldnt publish my name or my picture. But this also meant I couldnt talk to them and tell them my story. They got a statement off South Yorkshire Police and that statement didnt make me out to be a victim, so they plastered horrible things about me and my family all over the papers. I had to ignore it all and try to make a life. It seemed impossible but I took it day by day and I got myself to a better place without them. My family are the ones that supported me. I had to push myself so hard, every day at 13 getting up, feeding a baby, going to school and studying for exams. My life had a major change because of the failings of South Yorkshire Police, and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council social services inability to do their jobs properly.
Since all of this has come to the surface again recently because of the investigation and trial thats coming up, my stress and anxiety are at a high level. Im struggling to cope with the paranoia it is bringing out. I cant go out and be around certain people, as Im so scared they are related or friends with the perpetrators. I start thinking they are looking at me and talking about me. But Im a qualified youth worker now and I know my feelings arent right and I shouldnt stereotype. Its just crazy what the mind does when under a lot of pressure.
I also dont trust police and social services. I feel that too much happened for me to ever fully have confidence in them again. Theyre trying to help me now as much as they can, but Ive just got no trust in them whatsoever. Its just part of what I went through then. I cant change that. I like to deal with my own issues without them because they left me to sort myself out, from when I was 11 until when I was 13.
This book is an amazing opportunity to help practitioners learn more about it and ways to overcome its challenges. I believe that workers that met me around that awful time knew what was happening to me but was so scared to speak out. All I needed was to see professionals saying the same as my family, just to reassure me. My family was right in what they were trying to learn me, telling me the perpetrators were in the wrong and it was illegal. But I just didnt believe my family and when I was took to social services and police they wasnt backing my family up, which only left me to ignore what was correct.
This book will help you all to be empathetic and identify risk factors that may be a contributor. This will help you support others in future practice, and spot the warning signs. It will also help you gain an insight into how it really feels for survivors such as myself. I believe that if social workers would have listened to my mum the first time she told them what was happening to me, then my life could have been so much different I would have put trust in and listened to professional advice. I believe workers then knew what needed to be done and had the knowledge, but was too scared to stand up and admit this was a problem and it needed addressing in fear of losing their jobs and being victimised by senior members of staff. One thing I have learnt from this whole thing is that being silent is what made this town become such a mess.
Speak out and dont be scared to challenge and stand up for what is the right thing to do. I am so happy to be able to use this very bad and unfortunate part of my life to talk about and try and change the way things went wrong. My personal opinion is that the only way to move forward is for workers to be prepared to challenge every little thing they come across. Yes, its a lot of work, but in the long run it will come naturally and society will change the way they think about the failures that once was, and look forward to putting trust in South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham childrens services again.
T, Rotherham, October 2016
Postscript
T has since had to give evidence in court against her attackers. Six men were subsequently convicted of offences including rape, indecent assault, sexual intercourse with a child under 13 and false imprisonment in relation to her (aged 12), and another girl aged 13. They were jailed for a total of 81 years. T said giving evidence was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life, which is significant given what she has been through. But she is glad she had done it and hopes it will help others come forward as a result.
