Burnham-On-Sea’s MP Tessa Munt has this week revealed that she was herself a victim of sexual abuse.
In an emotional interview on Radio 4’s PM programme she revealed that her crusade to expose historic abuse was inspired by her own experience.
She said: “I came to Parliament to try to sort some of this stuff out. From a personal point of view, I’m a survivor. But this is not about me. It’s about the victims who are not in a position to speak up and say to themselves that I’ve got my life back together.”
“Some of these people will have been suffering for 50, 60, 70 years. We absolutely have to deal with this stuff. We have a duty to deal with this stuff.”
The MP added: “I had a period of my life which was not happy. I was the victim of sexual abuse.”
She said she survived only with the help of her family and friends. Ms Munt said it was “difficult to talk about this stuff”, but revealed she was driven by getting justice for the victims.
“I couldn’t say what had happened. I’ve got past that now with a lot of help and support of my family and friends. I was 32, 33 when I spoke about it first.”
“The reason I spoke about it was I was expecting my first child, that is what brought it into very sharp focus for me. When I was a child I did not think I would be believed.”
She recently wrote to the Home Secretary asking for an independent inquiry into child abuse allegations, as we reported here.
Theresa May told MPs in the Commons on Monday that a panel of experts will examine evidence that public bodies, private companies, the NHS, the BBC and the church failed to protect children from paedophiles.
