Latest news with #rapeSurvivors
The Sun
11-07-2025
- The Sun
I was sexually abused at 4 by family friend… I'm haunted by the face he pulled but he was jailed for just 2 years
POURING a pint behind the bar, Kaylee Thompson looked up as a punter entered the pub - and froze. Standing before her was a face that had haunted her for years, the face of a man she had been desperately trying to forget. 8 This was the monster who had violently abused her when she was just four years old, destroyed her innocence - then jeeringly poked his tongue out at her. 'I knew instantly it was him,' says Kaylee, 35, who now works with survivors of rape. "I'd had so many flashbacks throughout my childhood, and I hadn't forgotten him. "I felt the blood drain from my face. I turned away, refusing even to look at him, and ran out of the bar.' Growing up in Bradford, Kaylee had a normal, happy childhood until an evening in 1994 changed her life forever. 'My older brother Sam, then six, and I were staying at my aunty's house, being babysat by my cousin while Mum was out. 'I remember very little, except that I was wearing pyjamas with horses on them. 'When I woke, I was being held up at the side of the bed, and someone was sexually assaulting me. 'I recognised him as a boy called Thomas Brown, then 17, and a friend of my cousin. 'I was scared and confused, but he was hurting me and so I shouted out and pushed him away. 'He punched me in the face and I fell onto the bed. My childhood abuser walked free -Life stories 'When I came round, he'd gone, and my face was stinging.' Kaylee made her way downstairs to find her cousin, who was sleeping on the sofa. She says: 'I couldn't wake my cousin, but then I heard a noise in the kitchen and Thomas Brown appeared. 'He stuck his tongue out at me before walking out of the house. It was an image which haunted me for years. 'Terrified of him, I ran back upstairs, and my brother woke up and settled me back in bed.' The next morning, Kaylee had a black eye. She says: 'I told everyone Thomas Brown had hit me, but I couldn't tell them about the abuse; I didn't have the vocabulary at that age. 'I didn't know what had happened to me.' 8 8 Kaylee's mum reported Brown to the police but officers advised them there wasn't enough evidence and the case was taken no further. As the months passed, Kaylee was terrified of leaving her bedroom during the night and began wetting the bed. She says: 'I had flashbacks all through my childhood.' But Kaylee kept her abuse a secret, desperately trying to move on with her life. Aged 16, she got a job in a bar in 2006, and one evening in her attacker walked in. 'I knew, instantly, it was him and I ran away,' she says. 'We had mutual friends on Facebook and I realised he was friendly with people who had kids of their own. 'I knew I had to speak out, yet the longer it went on, the harder it became.' I tried not to let it overshadow my life but the memories of the attack were always in my mind Kaylee Thompson After that, Kaylee says that she began drinking heavily as a coping mechanism. 'I confided in my friends like any typical teenager, they were who I spoke to about my problems, they were always urging me to go to the police,' she says. 'I tried not to let it overshadow my life but the memories of the attack were always in my mind.' Kaylee later met her husband, James, and the couple went on to have three young sons. When she confided in him he was totally supportive and appreciated the fact that she needed to take her own time to report Brown. Then, in 2021, as part of her role as a community development worker, Kaylee was invited to join an advisory group with Bradford Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Survivors Service. She says: 'Working there, and talking with other survivors, made me think I owed it to myself, and to all other women, to speak out.' Kaylee went to the police in November 2021 and Brown, now, 47, appeared before Leeds Crown Court in April this year. When she eventually confided in her mum she was devastated, heartbroken that Kaylee had carried the secret for so long. She says: 'The cross-examination was tough, the defence barrister repeatedly challenged my memory of events. 'But I knew I was telling the truth and I held onto that.' He was found guilty of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 and jailed for two years - the maximum he could receive under the lenient laws of the 1990s - and put on the sex offender register for 10 years. Kaylee says: 'The process was very stressful. I had no support prior to the court case. 'When I was interviewed, I was taken to the 'Vulnerable Victim Suite', which I objected to. I asked the police officer if they had a 'Paedophile Suite' also. 'I'm not a victim and I don't like to be categorised like that. 'Just as I was aged four, I am still fighting, still standing up for myself, and I want to stand up for other survivors too. 'I am pleased I have justice and that he's been exposed for the animal he really is. 'I carried so much shame all those years but now the shame is all on him. 'The more I open up about it, the more it has left me. 'I would encourage any survivors to come forward, no matter how long it's been. "The process is not easy, however, it does help you heal and get closure.' Kaylee continues to work with a survivor leaders group at Bradford Rape crisis centre. 8 8
Reuters
01-07-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Exclusive: USAID cancelled rape survivor kits for Congo as conflict erupted
July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration cancelled a major contract to supply emergency kits for rape survivors in Congo as violence surged in the east this year, leaving thousands without access to life-saving medication, the United Nations and aid groups said. The emergency kits include medication to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as unwanted pregnancies. The decision to cancel the contract for around 100,000 post-rape kits has not been reported previously. The U.S. Agency for International Development contract was intended to resupply Congo's war-ravaged eastern provinces for the year, and left thousands of health centres without provisions when fighting was escalating. The State Department, which manages USAID, did not respond to repeated requests for comment by email and text message. Reuters spoke to officials at the United Nations and four other aid groups that treat rape survivors in eastern Congo for this story. A team also visited a site in South Kivu province to speak directly to healthcare workers and survivors. "When you look into the eyes of a rape victim, you get the impression that her gaze is dead," one health worker in Congo, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said. "You never forget standing in front of that person and telling them that you don't have any medicine, that you don't know how to help them, and asking them to leave." Rwanda-backed M23 rebels swept across the east of the country in January, seizing two major cities, in an escalation of a decades-long conflict. The UN has said that some 67,000 incidences of rape have been recorded since then with many more likely going unreported. Sexual violence as a weapon of war in the Congo has been documented by generations of UN experts and aid groups. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid after taking office in January and halted grants by USAID. USAID's contract with a supplier for the kits was in the pipeline when billionaire Elon Musk, who at the time was spearheading a department to improve U.S. government efficiency, said he was shuttering the agency in January. According to the UN and other aid organisations, USAID immediately cancelled the contract, which would have resupplied thousands of health centres by March. Reuters has agreed not to name the supplier to avoid compromising its sensitive operations in Congo. "When USAID decided to terminate the large funding they had for this American NGO, this American NGO immediately stopped all activities," said Noemi Dalmonte, the deputy representative in Kinshasa for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). "The pipeline got disrupted at a very unfortunate time." The post-rape kits come in a box containing HIV medication to prevent infection within 72 hours, antibiotics and testing for sexually transmitted diseases and emergency contraception. The supplies paid for by USAID were meant to reach over 2,000 facilities. 'This kit is truly important to reassure the woman who has been really traumatized that she won't get AIDS, that she won't have an unwanted pregnancy, and that she won't contract venereal diseases,' said Amadou Bocoum, the country director of CARE International. The UNFPA shared a document with Reuters that indicated that only seven out of 34 health zones in North Kivu have a minimal supply of post-rape kits left. Less than one-in-four survivors' needs are currently being met. Only 13% of survivors that request help receive medication to prevent HIV within the recommended 72-hour window. While the U.S. State Department has said it will continue to support life-saving programs worldwide, the contract to supply post-rape kits to survivors remains cancelled. Trump has said that the U.S. pays disproportionately for foreign aid and he wants other countries to shoulder more of the burden. The U.S. disbursed $65 billion in foreign assistance last year, nearly half of it via USAID, according to government data. The UNFPA and other aid organisations are trying to raise around $35 million to cover the loss of funding from the United States from donors such as the Gates Foundation and other Western nations. The consequences of the cancellation include survivor deaths, the spread of HIV, unwanted pregnancies, and unsafe abortions with high maternal-mortality risk, the UNFPA document said.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Under-fire Labour minister Lucy Powell makes humiliating Commons apology after 'belittling' rape survivors by claiming grooming gangs is a 'dog whistle' issue
Cabinet minister Lucy Powell today made a House of Commons apology following claims she 'belittled' rape survivors with her comments about grooming gangs. The Leader of the Commons sparked fury by suggesting during a radio show last week that group-based child abuse was a 'dog whistle' issue. She faced calls to resign over the remarks, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer backed her after accepting her apology. Ms Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central, reiterated her apology this morning in her first appearance at the Commons' despatch box since the row erupted. She said in a message to survivors and victims: 'I am very sorry for those remarks, as I made clear over the weekend. 'I and every member of this Government want your truth to be heard wherever that truth leads. 'Your truly appalling experiences need to be acted on, for those responsible to be accountable and face the full force of the law and for justice to be served. 'I would never want to leave the impression that these very serious, profound and far-reaching issues, which I have campaigned on for many years, should be shied away from and not aired. Far from it. No stone will be left unturned.' The issue of group-based child abuse - including by gangs of Pakistani origin - was put back into the spotlight after Labour denied a request for a new Whitehall-led inquiry. The Government has instead favoured locally-led probes, although Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a 'rapid audit' into the scale of the issue across Britain. During an appearance on a BBC Radio 4's Any Questions last Friday, Ms Powell was asked by Tim Montgomerie, a Reform UK member and political commentator, if she had seen a recent Channel 4 TV documentary on grooming gangs. She responded: 'Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now do we... let's get that dog whistle out shall we'. Sarah Wilson, a victim of the Rotherham scandal, said Ms Powell's comments showed what survivors have been 'up against all these years' and why they have not been 'listened to – they never cared and never will'. Speaking in the Commons today, Ms Powell promised the Government would 'leave no stone unturned' in pursuing child grooming gangs. During business questions, Tory MP Katie Lam asked Ms Powell: 'Many members of the grooming and rape gangs that systematically abused white working-class girls have never faced justice, and neither have the councillors, officials and police officers suspected of collusion and cover-up. 'So, can we have a debate on the need for a national inquiry into these disgusting crimes, and will the Leader tell us please who exactly it is she believes is using these horrors as a, I quote, 'dog whistle'?' Ms Powell replied: 'We are all, everybody up and down this country, horrified about the crimes that have been committed over many, many years by despicable grooming gangs 'And that is why we first and foremost are implementing the many, many recommendations from the recent inquiries, many of which, most of which in fact, sat on the shelf until the general election last year. 'Those recommendations include issues like mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, something that I have campaigned on, the PM, the Home Secretary and the Safeguarding minister (Jess Phillips) have campaigned on for many, many years. 'We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the truth and justice and accountability is got wherever it is needed for those victims of these terrible atrocities.'
