The Patchwork Girl

The world of abuse and grooming gangs couldn't have seemed further away from Kate's start in life. Aged 18 she found herself in supported housing for homeless teenagers and came into contact with a gang who were grooming young girls for sex. It was the onset of a cycle of serial brutal abuse and rape, almost impossible to imagine.

They degraded her to the point where she'd become this sex thing - this thing that wasn't human, but an object - to the point where she believed that's what she was. The world of abuse and grooming gangs couldn't have seemed further away from Kate's start in life but, as so many young women now know, that matters little. As Sir Keir Starmer's national inquiry into grooming gangs begins, victims from across the country will share the stories of how they were targeted and their lives ruined. For Kate it was a situation that came out of the blue when, aged 18 and at college, her home life deteriorated and she found herself in supported housing for homeless teenagers in Telford. That's where she came into contact with an Asian gang who were grooming young girls for sex. One of the gang, who'd recently come out of prison, forced his way in and raped her before dragging her to a flat next door which the gang used for sex with underage girls, to publicly humiliate her in front of his friends. They threatened her with violence if she went to the police. It was the beginning of a cycle of serial and brutal abuse and rape that is almost impossible to imagine. She suffered mentally with PTSD being passed around between more than 70 men and taken to Morocco as a sex slave. Kate finally was able to report the abuse and some of the gang members were tried and sent to prison. Kate became a Mental Health Nurse in a secure unit in forensic mental health, which ironically includes working with sex offenders. She's become highly skilled in what she does, having an in-depth and first-hand knowledge of the thought processes of groomers.