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  • Sexual Abuse

    Many years ago… maybe 1970? I would have been about 12? A small town Scout Group. A Scout Leader’s son persuaded/groomed about 5 or 6 of us to play strip poker in the scout hut ‘after hours’. It was not at the time threatening, but in retrospect I did not like it and wanted to be out of the situation – but I wanted to ‘belong’ too. It was for the gratification of the leader’s son who was the abuser. I do not know if it went further with other boys; when the game was over I dressed and left. I never returned to Scouts having also had an unwanted homosexual approach from at least one other older scout. As an individual I was able to deal with this and put it down to experience, but I was never comfortable in the group thereafter. Again looking back, I now recognise an atmosphere of intangible sexual ‘threat’ lay behind some activities.