Fiona

I am shocked and horrified that so many people have come out and seem to be wanting historical sex abuse to be abolished. I am a survivor of historical child sex abuse by the Catholic Church in Scotland and it took me forty years to find other men who like me had been trafficked all over Scotland and Ireland and put into ritual abuses. I spent the 1st sixteen yrs of my life in the care system and then was thrown out onto the streets where I became homeless and spent years running away from the threats of my abusers. I was told at the age of twelve that my best friend who slept in the bed next to me who had suddenly disappeared had been murdered and that if I ever told anyone about the abuse I would also be murdered. As you can imagine this affected every single relationship I ever had and still does. People need to understand that it’s not just about the abuse. Trauma has many layers and it is only by listening to the survivors that you begin to understand why so many people take so long to come forward. It wasn’t until 2012 that I discovered my friend had committed suicide whilst on home leave from the care home. He was trying to explain to his family what was happening but they simply couldn’t believe him. He was 12 yrs old. SURVIVORS UNITED.