'We were treated like we didn't matter': Rotherham sexual abuse survivors testify

  • Abuse survivor Sammy Woodhouse speaks to ITV News

Survivors of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham have given stark accounts of their mistreatment by police as part of a major report on failings in how the issue was handled.

An estimated 1,400 children were thought to have been systematically sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 by gangs of largely Asian men.

Following eight years of investigations into hundreds of complaints, watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found "systemic problems" within South Yorkshire Police meant that reports of abuse were mishandled.

'I was told I was responsible'

The IOPC said it had contact with 75 survivors of abuse during its investigations and the report offers an insight into the trauma and pain many sufferered.

Reflecting on the abuse in the report, one survivor said: "I was told repeatedly by the police that I was responsible for my own actions for allowing myself to be a victim.

"No matter what bad experience I was going through there was never any concern for me as a child.

"I don't recall a single time when the police treated me like I was a vulnerable child. Looking back, I now realise they had 'adult expectations' from children regardless of a child's age.

"I was age 13 and I was told more than a dozen times I was responsible for my 'behaviour' for being sexually abused and exploited by several grown men."

'We was treated like we didn't matter', one survivor said. Credit: PA

Another said: "No matter what bad experience I was going through there was never any concern for me as a child."

The IOPC investigated 265 complaint allegations in total, the majority made by survivors. Forty-three of the complaints were upheld.

The report said the "legacy" of abuse "runs deep", with many survivors continuing to suffer with poor physical and mental health, problems with fertility, family breakdown and involvement in criminality.

"We was treated like we didn't matter", said one survivor.

Another said: "No one was to be trusted. How can the police have been trusted when they treated us like child prostitutes and troubled children?"

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Rotherham abuse survivor Sammy Woodhouse, 35, was 14-years-old when she was groomed and abused.

She was also exploited to commit crime. She fell pregnant at the age of 15, and made her first statement to the police after two years.

She says she was ignored by the police and said the entire ordeal has had lasting affects on her and her family.

"Even though it was such a long time ago it's still so relevant in my life now. I kind of feel like it's totally taken over my life," she said.