Our Goals

When RACPA UK began in 2006, it was in response to the lack of awareness, understanding, support and help that surrounds the whole subject of child pornography and childhood sexual abuse. It is almost a taboo subject, not one that can be openly discussed, not one that people know how to respond to, a subject so horrifying that it is easier to believe that it doesn't happen that often and certainly not to anyone that we may know personally. It happens in other places, to other people, never on our streets, our estates, in our suburbs. And when you come across the stories in the media, they are distant, removed. And of course, the victims remain nameless, faceless statistics.

We asked...what about those victims? What is being done for them? Are they being found, rescued, protected...being given the help and support that they need to heal? We know what happens to the abusers, that there is therapy, support; help with moving back into society...surely the victims get that as well? Sadly, we found that the answer to that question is no.

So, we decided to start asking the difficult questions, to take the matter into the public arena and say "Do you know how hard it is for a victim of sexual abuse to come forward? How much damage is done to a whole life if no-one listens when a child cries out for help? If no-one hears that cry or believes what happened, what then?"

In the years we have been doing this work, we hear about the "what then", from the victims and survivors themselves, many of whom have never been able to speak out, who have carried their scars trapped behind the wall of silence. The wall that we have begun to take down, a brick at a time, as we stand up and shout "No more!". Why are the rights of victims not given priority over the rights of abusers...why are the resources not there to provide the help they so desperately need...why do victims feel that they cannot speak up?

So our goal became to speak up for them, to make people aware of how devastating it is to be a victim of child pornography or sexual abuse, how it can destroy a life completely, or at the very least leave scars that may never heal.

We took our work out into the world, and found musicians, bands, venues, promoters, all willing to stand with us, to offer what they have in support of those victims, to stand on a stage and say that they are behind us, that they are standing with us and those victims, to let them know that they are not alone, that we are all here for them, and we will all stand up and shout for them. We KNOW what that means to those victims and survivors, because they come to us in many different ways, and let us know how important it is that this generation and the ones to follow don't have to deal with their fear alone.

So, together, all standing strong, we WILL make a difference for the children of today and tomorrow, and make sure yesterdays children are not forgotten.

Meet The Team

Carmen Maria Becky Debra Emma Angeless Becki