My name is Jeremy Indika.

I was sexually abused beginning at the age of eight by a thirty-five-year-old man who had access to me because he was a friend of my father. The abuse went on for a long time. No one knew at the time, and I did not say a word.

At twenty-five, the memories started haunting me, and by twenty-seven, I finally spoke out. Over the next five years I began telling more and more people what had happened to me. Each time I spoke, my confidence grew, and I could feel the fear and shame that had weighed on me for so long begin to dissolve.

Once I felt confident enough to own my story, I started researching this topic and discovered how many people carry the impact of similar experiences from childhood. I decided I wanted to do something about it, so I created social media channels and began speaking openly about my story and about this topic to the wider public. Things grew from there.

I then decided that I wanted to become the person I had needed when I was at school, while this was happening to me. I therefore designed workshops and began delivering them to children and teenagers to help them recognise abuse and feel able to speak to a trusted adult if they need support. That work has since expanded to include training for teachers, police officers and social workers.

If you experienced something like this in childhood, I am sorry. That weight is real. I hope that if you want to speak, you find someone you trust to tell. If you cannot find that person yet, look for projects or survivor-led communities like this one and use the spaces others have created to help your voice be heard.

Change is possible when survivors stand together and refuse to let abuse remain behind closed doors. Together, we can bring it into the open and help protect children today.