I will always stand with survivors The biggest fear for me when I first shared my story of rape was whether I would be believed. But why would I make it up?! There are so many reasons why people who have experienced rape/sexual assault keep quiet and unless you’ve ever been in that situation I realise it may be hard to understand why. The very nature of the trauma makes your mind shut it out, pretend it hasn’t happened and numb out any feelings. The shame and guilt for me were huge too, thinking incorrectly that I had […]
Read More“Asking for it”
We need to talk about rape It’s not every day that I’m invited to see a world premiere of a play, so I was really excited to fly over to Cork for a night to see the stage adaptation of Louise O’Neill’s novel “Asking for it” at The Everyman. I met Mary and Dola from the Sexual Violence Centre in the foyer, which was buzzing with excitement. They gave me my tickets and then introduced me to Louise. She told me Mary had mentioned to her I was coming along tonight, but I wasn’t really sure if she knew much […]
Read MoreNo. 1 Magazine Amazing Women Awards
I’m sitting having coffee with a friend when I receive a phone call to tell me that I’ve won an award at the Amazing Women Awards for No 1 Magazine in Scotland. I was shocked, as I had no idea at all about being nominated by my eldest daughter and was very touched to have won my category called “Strength” out of 15 other women. I was told they were impressed by my strength to overcome the difficult things in my life and the way I use my story now to help others. For those of you who don’t know […]
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