Traumatised

A riveting, deeply affecting true story of one girl’s coming-of-age in a polygamist family. RUTH WARINER was the thirty-ninth of her father’s forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turn a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible. After Ruth’s father—the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony—is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant. In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where Ruth’s mother collects welfare and her stepfather works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her. As she begins to doubt her family’s beliefs and question her mother’s choices, she struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to forge a better life for herself. Recounted from the innocent and hopeful perspective of a child, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable memoir of one girl’s fight for peace and love. This is an intimate, gripping tale of triumph, courage, and resilience.

There are people in this world who are wretched and merciless. They will hurt you mentally, physically, and sexually, and they will rip your soul right out of you. But you have to decide if you are going to let the memories of these evil people steal the rest of your days, or if you are going to take them back and fill them with joy. Take them back. Tell your Story. And help yourself, and someone else, heal. It's time for you to beautifully shout, Bonnie.

Abuse is not just sexual - it is also physical, emotional, and spiritual. We hide our shame thinking, as children, it is all our fault. And that is the power of abuse. We are soul murdered and kept silent. But today, the silence stops with me, my story. I am a survivor - of physical, emotional, spiritual, and sexual abuse. I’ve wanted to commit suicide since I was eleven years old. And no one knew. Those of you who want us to stay silent - what are you hiding? Because a whole world kept silent in the nineteen forties, over eight million people, were murdered. Silence and silent abuse murders children, whether it be physically, mentally, spiritually, or sexually. To my fellow survivors - don’t give up! Have the courage to find yourself. Reclaim your self-worth, your dignity, and your soul. The silence stops with us.

After being sexually abused by his Grandad at the age of 10, Perry lived in secrecy for over 12 years. This led him down a path of self-sabotage, that is until the sudden death of his Father in 2017. Perry went on to break his silence and embark on a mission to help as many victims as he could to also break theirs. This book is about Perry's story, the stories of 14 other survivors, and how someone who is living in silence can own their story and speak out. - Uncover what's been holding you back from speaking out - Give your doubts and fears a wave goodbye - Start loving yourself unconditionally - Find a way that works for you when it comes to breaking your silence - Become your best self and operate at your highest frequency

Did you know that 1 in 10 children in America have experienced some form of sexual abuse? This shocking truth becomes even harder to accept when its coupled with a longer more extensive violation of trust called grooming. Groomed: Shining a Light on the Unheard Narrative of Childhood Sexual Assault tells the tale of one young woman's journey through her experience with abuse and sheds light on a narrative exploiting millions of children every year.Throughout the book, the author invites people to step out of their comfort zones and listen to the all-too-common narrative of childhood sexual assault. It invites people to embrace survivors, believe them and connect with them on their journey to healing while providing tips and research on creating more loving communities.In this book you will find: \ A gripping narrative of sexual assault told from a child's perspective on being groomed \ The critical stages of the grooming process \* Actionable tips and tricks on how to prevent childhood sexual abuse and groomingGroomed is for survivors looking for a voice, young families seeking advice, and guardians wanting to learn. The book's purpose is to educate and inspire, and change the culture around sexual violence.

On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends saw of her for over eighteen years. On 26 August 2009, Dugard, her daughters, and Phillip Craig Garrido appeared in the office of her kidnapper's parole officer in California. Their unusual behaviour sparked an investigation that led to the positive identification of Jaycee Lee Dugard, living in a tent behind Garrido's home. During her time in captivity, at the age of fourteen and seventeen, she gave birth to two daughters, both fathered by Garrido. Dugard's memoir is written by the 30-year-old herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present. In her stark, utterly honest and unflinching narrative, Jaycee opens up about what she experienced, including how she feels now, a year after being found. Garrido and his wife Nancy have since pleaded guilty to their crimes.

For the first time, ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime. On June 5, 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart, the daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, was taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life. Now for the first time, in her memoir, MY STORY, she tells of the constant fear she endured every hour, her courageous determination to maintain hope, and how she devised a plan to manipulate her captors and convinced them to return to Utah, where she was rescued minutes after arriving. Smart explains how her faith helped her stay sane in the midst of a nightmare and how she found the strength to confront her captors at their trial and see that justice was served. In the nine years after her rescue, Smart transformed from victim to advocate, traveling the country and working to educate, inspire and foster change. She has created a foundation to help prevent crimes against children and is a frequent public speaker. In 2012, she married Matthew Gilmour, whom she met doing mission work in Paris for her church, in a fairy tale wedding that made the cover of People magazine.

The explosive account of the trial of the century 'Powerful, vivid and affecting. A compassionate account of the consequences of crime' DAVID NICHOLLS 'Urgent, necessary and courageous' ELIZABETH DAY 'The definitive voice on the Epstein horror.' OWEN JONES 'I understand – and sympathise with – the feeling you might have that you already know the Jeffrey Epstein story. But I am not here to tell you a story about Jeffrey Epstein, or even Ghislaine Maxwell. I am here to tell you the stories of ten women, many of whom have never spoken at length before, about the real impact of sexual trauma on their lives.' In November 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of five counts of sex-trafficking of minors, and now faces 55 years in prison for the role she played in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of four girls. The trial was meticulously covered by journalist and legal reporter Lucia Osborne-Crowley, one of only four reporters allowed into the courtroom every day. The Lasting Harm is her account of that trial, a gripping true crime drama and a blistering critique of a criminal justice system ill-equipped to deliver justice for abuse survivors, no matter the outcome. Centring the stories of four women and their testimonies, and supplemented by extra material to which Osborne-Crowley has exclusive access, The Lasting Harm brings this incendiary trial to life, questions our age-old appetite for crime and punishment and offers a new blueprint for meaningful reparative justice.

This extraordinary powerful story of Gloria’s journey from darkness into light is one of hope, resilience and the unrelenting power of the human spirit to survive. It’s June 1960 and in middle-class suburban New Zealand, a child was born into sex slavery. For the first sixteen years of her life, Gloria suffered horrendous sexual, physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her father, with no one to protect her. From the underworld of her father’s paedophile ring to the groups he trafficked her to, she found an inner strength and a light that shone so brightly, her mind was the one thing that could not be destroyed. Experienced through the eyes of a child, On Angels’ Wings will forever highlight the way we deal with child abuse, shining a light on this darkness, and challenging us not to assume that every child is safe. One voice speaking out is all it takes to save a life.

The true story of an abused childhood, of shocking brutality and life as the daughter of notorious serial killer, and master manipulator, Rose West. You're twenty-one years old. Police arrive on the doorstep of your house, 25 Cromwell Street, with a warrant to search the garden for the remains of your older sister you didn't know was dead. Bones are found and they are from more than one body. And so the nightmare begins. You are the daughter of Fred and Rose West. 'Mae, I mean this ... I'm not a good person and I let all you children down ...' Rose West, HM PRISON DURHAM It has taken over 20 years for Mae West to find the perspective and strength to tell her remarkable story: one of an abusive, violent childhood, of her serial killer parents and how she has rebuilt her life in the shadow of their terrible crimes. Through her own memories, research and the letters her mother wrote to her from prison, Mae shares her emotionally powerful account of her life as a West. From a toddler locked in the deathly basement to a teen fighting off the sexual advances of her father, Mae's story is one of survival. It also answers the questions: how do you come to terms with knowing your childhood bedroom was a graveyard? How do you accept the fact your parents sexually tortured, murdered and dismembered young women? How do you become a mother yourself when you're haunted by the knowledge that your own mother was a monster? Why were you spared and how do you escape the nightmare?

THE GIRL IN THE GREEN DRESS is an unforgettable memoir from a woman who refused to be silenced. Jeni Haynes is an inspiration and her bravery and determination to live is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. This is a unique and profoundly important book as it is not only a story of survival, it also includes incredible insight from Dr George Blair-West, Jeni's psychiatrist and an expert in DID.

“I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from ‘thinks it’s love’ to ‘show it hurts’. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim – that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix – a work in progress. This is my story…”

The latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. Beth is a sweet-natured child who appears to have been well looked after. But it isn’t long before Cathy begins to have concerns that the relationship between Beth and her father is not as it should be. Little Beth, aged 7, has been brought up by her father Derek after her mother left when she was a toddler. When Derek is suddenly admitted to hospital with psychiatric problems Beth is taken into care and arrives at Cathy’s. Beth and her father clearly love each other very much and Derek spoils his daughter, treating her like a princess, but there is something bothering Cathy, something she can’t quite put her finger on. Meanwhile Cathy’s husband is working away a lot and coming home less at weekends. Then, suddenly, everything changes. Events take a dramatic turn for both Beth and Cathy and her family; as Cathy strives to pick up the pieces all their lives are changed forever.

Six-year-old Darby arrives on Casey’s doorstep terrified and hysterical. As Casey tries to soothe the little girl she realises that this is likely to be one of the most difficult placements she had ever had to deal with… Casey is shocked to answer the door on a Sunday afternoon, the week before Christmas, to find John Fulshaw on her doorstep – unannounced and looking very serious. John explains why’s he’s come, and the Watsons sit and listen, shocked and sickened, as he describes the most recent child to appear under his radar. Six year old Darby Sykes has been taken into care just a couple of hours back, as a result of a known paedophile getting in touch with the local police, having been so sickened by something he’s seen online. Even in his murky world, this was depravity above and beyond – he recognised the little girl as being one who lived on his estate. Swift action has been taken – Darby has been removed from her home, and John believes that Casey and Mike are the best people to support this small terrified child while a long term plan of action is decided.

It’s late on Friday night when Casey’s mobile starts to ring. She is expecting it to be her daughter Riley. But it isn’t Riley. It’s a woman from the Emergency Duty Team. So begins Casey and Mike’s latest fostering challenge – a fifteen-year-old girl called Keeley who’s run away from her long-term foster home 25 miles away. The Jonathan Ross Show has just started when Casey gets the call. She thinks it will be Riley – telling her that her favourite actor is going to be on TV. But it’s something far more urgent: a fifteen-year-old girl who has run away from her foster family and accused her foster father of sexual abuse. The family deny in vehemently, but such an allegation can never be taken lightly, so a new home must be found for Keeley. Keeley is polite, but she’s sharp, and she has all the hallmarks of a child who has been in the system a long time, and knows how to play it. Whether the allegation is true or not, Casey knows there will be no winners here. If it is true, then a young girl’s life has been torn asunder. If not, then the heartache for the family will only be surpassed by the bleak outlook for Keeley. In the short term, it’s a case of providing a safe, supportive home for a vulnerable child. But with the dangerous world of the internet at her disposal, it seems this strong-minded youngster has her own ideas of where that safe place should be…

True Story of Childhood Trauma Can I Come Home Now? In this moving and painful memoir of growing up from age five to adulthood, the author paints a sad and all too familiar story of early sexual abuse from men whom she should have been able to trust that evolves into a shattered sense of self-worth, and ultimately her own dysfunctional and abusive marriage. The story relates how little Barbara came to be vulnerable to such trauma after the break-up of her family and being shuttled among various, not always willing relatives. She details the highly effective and shrewd tactics predators use to keep their victims under their total control. The unrelenting theme throughout is her constant longing for her mother's elusive love, always just beyond her reach. This is not a story of self-pity but a story of surviving the odds and creating the life you want.

Part memoir of the author's experiences of confusion and shame as a child who was sexually abused at an early age and part expression of her personal and spiritual journey to heal that shame, this brave exploration shows us how Aly McDonnell was able to open her heart to the world again, Walking Out of Shame is a book that is ultimately about triumph and love. It's about how to find your original childlike spirit when you feel you've lost your way.

We are all blessed with the incredible gift of life, but it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. As we navigate our journeys, we do the best we can with the knowledge we have. I believe in the power of vulnerability, and I want to share some of the lessons that have shaped me into the person I am today. I have experienced moments of despair, but I have also transformed those moments into valuable wisdom that I now cherish. When we find ourselves in the depths of darkness, it can feel overwhelming and consuming. Without the right tools to navigate, it can be a challenging journey. However, through committing to deep inner work and investing in my own personal transformation, I have ignited a fire within me. I have discovered that my true purpose is to help others, and there is no greater truth that I can share than what is written within these pages. I am incredibly grateful that you are here, as it is my mission to inspire and empower each and every one of you to live your best lives. Together, let’s illuminate this world with our brightness and make a positive impact.

The cycle of abuse ends here, now. I will heal myself. I will go boldly to share my story and end the shame of what was done to me; for me and those who need to do the same. These generational curses that plague our families have to end. I let it all go. It wasn’t my fault. I was a child whose innocence was stolen. Whose identity was tarnished. I had been brave and strong for far too long. From now on I will love myself with the same love I have for others. I know love is supportive. Love cares when you are hurt. Love uplifts and encourages. Love seeks to help you become your best self. Love appreciates who you are. Love accepts your faults but requires you to rise above them when necessary and do better. Love wants you to be safe and happy. Love is a place to be your true self. Love is reciprocal. It cherishes you and celebrates you. Love wants to see the love you give returned to you tenfold. Love sees your pain and wipes away your tears. Love opens its arms and offers a safe place to lay it all down and know you are loved. Find the love you are so deserving of and give it to yourself!! I decided to create a book that is also a journal that will hopefully start you on a journey to loving yourself and seeing yourself as the amazing individual you are.

Sometimes, just sometimes, life throws challenges your way that seem too much. When is it enough? At what point do you decide to make the choice that you deserve? To live a life that actually makes you happy? This is my story. My life in all its glorious technicolour. To look at me, you wouldn't know that I've had choices to make that could determine my happiness, or sanity. This is a story of trauma, of varying degrees, and how I came to be the strongest possible version of myself that I never thought I could achieve.

In the UK today, it is estimated that nearly one in twenty children are subjected to sexual abuse, with the overwhelming majority being abused within the family environment. However, despite its prevalence, intrafamilial child sexual abuse remains largely shrouded in silence, shame and stigma. Taking a phenomenological approach, this book presents ten retrospective first-person accounts from adult victims and survivors, exploring the impact of such abuse throughout the life course. These stories illustrate how child sexual abuse can cause trauma affecting almost every aspect of emotionally, psychologically, interpersonally, behaviourally and cognitively. However, they also demonstrate the remarkable resilience of the human spirit; of how adverse experiences can be lived with, processed, and assimilated. These accounts address a gap in what academics, practitioners and policy makers know about child sexual abuse; give victims and survivors a voice; and open up a conversation about one of the most enduring societal and cultural problems.

“The pain of child sexual abuse does not stop when the abuse stops, it long outlives the moment and continues to have damaging repercussions throughout the victim’s life.” Growing up in a home fraught with physical and emotional turmoil, Jacqui endured the unspeakable anguish of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, compounded by a litany of other Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). At seventeen she attempted suicide and decades later when diagnosed with complex PTSD, Jacqui confronted the haunting pain head-on. To fill the voids created by the abuse, she became an external super-achiever because her internal self-worth was so badly damaged. Later, Jacqui realised that her relentless pursuit of success was a desperate bid to prove her worth in a world where she felt like an outsider. Despite her outward accolades, she continued to grapple with an enduring sense of inadequacy, haunted by the shadows of self-loathing, doubt and shame. In Turning the Tables on Trauma, Jacqui peels back the layers of her own trauma with unflinching honesty and vulnerability, sharing her formidable journey as she reached for the stars and achieved the senior rank of Wing Commander in the British Royal Air Force. Yet behind the professional mask of success lay a battlefield of inner turmoil, a constant struggle to reconcile the scars of the past with the demands of the present. Turning the Tables on Trauma is how one woman chose to overcome the adversity of incestuous and intergenerational familial abuse. Jacqui invites readers into the depths of her soul, exploring the silenced struggles that were suppressed by fear and shame for far too long. Armed with an unwavering commitment to understanding the roots of her trauma, she embarked on a path of self-discovery earning an MSc with distinction as she uncovered the resilience to believe in herself, the courage to enact change, and the power to break the generational cycle of abuse. Turning the Tables on Trauma is a memoir written by a survivor, for survivors and it serves as a beacon of hope and healing, showing a roadmap for others who have endured child abuse and trauma. Drawing from her own lived experience of survival, years of therapy, and academic research, Jacqui offers invaluable insights and healthy strategies for navigating the journey towards healing and transformation. At its heart lies a powerful message of forgiveness, gratitude, self-love and self-compassion. Turning the Tables on Trauma is a testament to the resolute strength and unwavering faith of the human spirit. “Remember to self-love and nurture; please don’t berate, and don’t forget to learn to let go of that hate, true happiness will come if you forgive your sad fate, for it is only love and hope that you must now contemplate.” Through Adversity To The Stars - Per Ardua Ad Astra

Rosemary was twelve years old when the abuse started and sixteen when an attempted rape forced her to break her silence with her mother revealing a dark secret she had been carrying for years. Her cousin’s husband had been sexually assaulting her each time their families would unite. After a brief period of family unrest and a mock trial, Rosemary was ordered to stay quiet and given full access to freedom in disguise as she went away to school in Florence, Italy.Follow her story, from her perspective, as she navigates a family dynamic in which the most important thing to do with the people she loves the most, is to wear a mask and keep secrets.Hunted is a story of resilience and power, and finding out that your greatest weakness is actually your greatest strength in disguise.