Rebekah Vardy urges sexual abuse victims to fight to be heard after Jehovah's Witness allegations

Reality star Rebekah Vardy is urging victims of sexual abuse to keep fighting for justice, adding there is "light at the end of the tunnel".

The 41-year-old footballer's wife was speaking out on ITV's Good Morning Britain after alleging she was sexually abused between the ages of 11 and 15, as she grew up as a Jehovah's Witness in Norwich.

Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester City player Jamie Vardy and has five children, claims senior male religious leaders within the religious community, known as "elders" covered up her complaints after she raised them.

Her revelations are highlighted in a new Channel 4 documentary called Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah's Witnesses and Me, which airs on Tuesday.

She said: "My advice to myself would have been keep fighting, the truth will come out in the end and never ever, ever give up.

"No matter how hard it can get, and for some it really does get hard, there is is always that light at the end of the tunnel."

During the interview, GMB presenter Susanna Reid said that the alleged perpetrator was not part of the Jehovah's Witness community.

In the documentary, Vardy speaks to former members of the Jehovah's Witness sect, including a victim of child abuse and the mother of a man who died by suicide after being expelled by the organisation.

She hailed these people as brave.

Vardy added: "I think I realised that I’ve probably only just scratched the surface, I think my story isn’t unique and there’s going to be plenty of others, as have already come out, that will continue to come out.

"I found this part of my life a bit of an obstacle but I wanted to use this obstacle to create an opportunity to help other people that have been in similar situations."

During her GMB interview she also revealed she was scared of "scared of the consequences" of speaking about sexual abuse due to "the fear of bringing shame on to the family" and felt isolated during this period of her life.

She believed her experience of being a victim of sexual abuse and not being listened to led to her becoming a "crazy, rebellious teenager" as well as the breakdown of her relationship with her mother.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a Christian denomination with about 8.5 million followers worldwide and which believes the destruction of the world is imminent.

They impose a strict moral code on members, including that homosexuality is a sin, and punishes those who deviate from their beliefs by "disfellowshipping" them, ostracising them from the community.

In a statement to GMB, Jehovah’s Witnesses said: "Elders are directed to immediately report an allegation of child sexual abuse to authorities, even if there is only one complainant."

The group added that the "courts have rejected the allegation that disfellowshipping and so-called shunning results in social isolation and discrimination and it is simply misleading and discriminatory to imply that our religion is controlling" and rejected that "being expelled from the religion contributed to suicide".

It also said it "lacked the information to comment on individual cases".

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know