"I was 8 yrs old when a was sexually abused by my dads friend"... Jeremy Indika shares his survivor story

Trigger Warning

• 1 in 10 children in the UK experience sexual abuse.*
• 500,000 children are estimated to be sexually abused in any given year in the UK**

*National Crime Agency**Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse

This weeks episode, host Jennie is joined by Jeremy Indika. Jeremy Indika is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. His abuse started at age 8. His abuser was a trusted 35 year old male family friend, more specifically, his fathers friend and colleague. Like most paedophiles, Jeremy's abuser hid in plain sight in a profession that provided him access, and that deemed him caring and trustworthy; a nurse at the hospital his father worked in as a doctor. Jeremy was 27 years old when he finally came to terms with his childhood sexual abuse and trauma. And he decided to turn his trauma into something positive. He is a very active Child Abuse Prevention Advocate and is the Founder of 'Something to Say'.

Not only does Jeremy share his story on this weeks episode, but Jennie and Jeremy, have a very real, very honest and open (and uncomfortable) conversation about many of the contributing factors that increase your child's exposure and risk to being sexually abused/exploited, including internet access, device use, social circle engagement. They also dive into the role mainstream pornography has taken in increasing the instances of paedophilia and sexual abuse, and our responsibilities as parents and a collective society to mitigate the risks to our kids.

With the statics and instances of child sexual abuse on the rise, we have a duty of care to be talking openly about this. Saying it out loud is the first step in tackling and eradicating this (or at the very least, stopping the rise, in its tracks). It's ugly and it's uncomfortable, but we must have the bravery and courage to call this increasing issue out...our children's lives depend on it.

You can find Jeremy Indika on Instragram:

@jeremyindika

@somethingtosayofficial

You can follow the Why Are We Whispering? podcast on Instagram:

@whywhisperpodcast

You can follow the making of the docu-series 'Why Are We Whispering?: The Whole Story' on Instagram:

@whywhisperthewholestory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.