I was abused at school. Here’s what I’ve learnt.

I was abused in school in the 1980s and 1990s. Eleven staff/clergy have since been imprisoned, and many more should have been.

So it’s a big case study from which I’ve personally learned the following about abusive cultures and survivor experiences:

1. The abuse I experienced is called ‘second wave’ because there was an earlier ‘first wave’ in the 1970s. Why a second wave? Because, despite teachers from the 1970s being moved on when they were caught, the culture wasn’t significantly changed. Furthermore, some of my abusers were victims of abusers themselves. It wasn’t just bad apples, but a rotten tree that needed fixing.