In their own words

My name is N. I am 25 years old. I decided to start going to counselling last year.

I have been coming for about 5 months now.

When I started counselling, I felt at the lowest point in my life. I had been abused by 2 men, one when I was 9 or 10, and one from the age of 11 until I was 15. The first man was a friend of my dads. When I had to go to Court about this man in March this year, the support I received off my counsellor, Gurjit, was 100%; the only thing that made me want to go. She knew I would find it extremely hard, dragging up all those horrible memories, but she was the only person who, even though I had only seen her for a short time, offered me total, non-judgemental support. After I had given my evidence, I felt shattered, but like I had scored a victory and conquered a long standing fear of this man. The 'aftercare' I received was excellent, my own personal safety net. Anyone else will understand - you feel in freefall, it's always nice to know somebody will catch you. I couldn't have done it otherwise, but now I'm glad I did.

I don't feel like a victim anymore. I feel like a survivor.