Recently, Survivors Of aBuse was represented at the Palace of Westminster as part of an important event organised by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and hosted by Jess Asato MP.

The focus was intrafamilial child sexual abuse.

The title of the event said so much:

“It’s not that simple when it’s somebody close.”

And it really is not.

When abuse happens within the family environment, it is often surrounded by:

• loyalty
• fear
• shame
• silence
• disbelief
• dependency
• manipulation
• family pressure
• survival

For a child, the person causing harm may also be someone they rely on. Someone others trust. Someone who looks very different outside the home. Someone the wider family may not want to see clearly.

That is what makes intrafamilial abuse so complex.

It is also why it must be spoken about.

The impact does not end when the abuse stops

Later that same week, Chris attended a screening of Great Photo, Lovely Life, the powerful documentary by Amanda Mustard.

It was an incredibly difficult watch.

The film showed the complexity of abuse within families and the impact across generations. It reflected what many survivors already know: the abuse itself is not the only thing carried.

Survivors may also carry:

• silence
• disbelief
• minimising
• shame
• family denial
• emotional confusion
• lifelong trauma responses
• the pressure to keep going

For many adult survivors, the impact can show up in health, confidence, relationships, work, parenting, boundaries, trust, safety and self-worth.

Many learn to survive by carrying on.

Get up.

Work.

Care for others.

Hold everything together.

Say “I’m fine.”

Push it down.

Keep going.

But survival mode comes at a cost.

Recovery is more than telling a story

At Survivors Of aBuse, we understand that recovery is not just about telling a story.

It is about being believed.

It is about understanding the impact.

It is about knowing the abuse was not the survivor’s fault.

It is about learning how trauma affects the mind and body.

It is about rebuilding safety, confidence and connection.

That is why we created the 8-week Breaking the Cycle™ C.L.E.A.N.E.R.™ Living programme for adult survivors of childhood abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, neglect and trauma.

Survivors are not broken.

Many are living with the impact of what they were forced to survive.

Silence protects the wrong people

This work cannot sit with survivors alone.

We need better understanding of intrafamilial abuse. We need professionals trained to recognise grooming, trauma responses and silence. We need systems that do not wait for children to find perfect words before adults act.

We also need proper recovery support for adult survivors.

Intrafamilial abuse is hard to talk about, but silence protects the wrong people.

Survivors Of aBuse will keep speaking.

We will keep supporting survivors.

We will keep challenging systems.

We will keep breaking the cycle.

Because children are worth protecting.

Survivors are worth believing.

And every survivor deserves to know:

You’re Worth Fighting For.