I want to write something about myself but not go into too much detail so here's my story in brief:

My father was a vicar for the church of england.  He was the priest for 2 or 3 small village parishes and so my sister and I were very well known by all the locals.  My father started sexually abusing me when i was 5 years old.  It continued until i was 11 when my father began getting ill.  He died when I was 13 of lung cancer.  I never had the chance to confront him about what happened and I feel robbed of the opportunity for justice.  My mother was very niave and had no idea the abuse was occuring when my father was alive and was ill equipped to help 2 teenage daughters with his death.  I feel asbetrayed by her as I do by him.

Fortunately I have been very lucky to be in touch with brilliant and supportive friends,had some amazing therapists and am now, I feel, on the final part of my journey to freedom.  I still have a lot of work to do but I am determined to be free from my past and not let it hold me back and damage my current relationships anymore.  I am no longer ashamed to say I am a survivor.  I know it wasn't my fault and I refuse to let my fathers lies rule my life.  I now recognise I was the innocent child, and I embrace that child, hold her close to me and give her the nurturing and comfort she didn't get.