Wow!! what an emotional day yesterday was..

I attended the March/Rally In London to raise awareness into Child Abuse... After leaving home at 8.10 am we arrived in London at 10.30am, stopped for some breakfast before heading up to Marble Arch to meet up with some other Survivors from My Support Group.. I'd been talking to these people on line for about 2 yrs but we'd never met before yesterday! Although I was naturally wary of what they would be like, and what they would think of me, I needn't have worried. They were just as I'd imagined them, kind, caring, compasionate women with hearts of GOLD!. It was amazing to meet and actually talk to them, face to face for the first time.

Even more weird for me was knowing that they knew what had happened to me in quite some detail, they didn't judge me, didn't doubt me, in fact they accepted me as I am.. flaws as well.. it was a fantastic feeling something I'd only experienced a few times before. We met up also with members of The Swindon Survivors who had organised the March/Rally and knew that they also understood where we were coming from, they understood the pain we felt and how hard it was for us to be there.

We bought Badges that said 'STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW!' and a Purple Ribbon, symbalising The need to stop Child Abuse, and proudly put them on our jackets for all to see.. We took pictures of us all with our banner that said in large black wording 'NO EXCUSE FOR CHILD ABUSE'.. as the time approached for the march to set off, the police arrived to do the escort duty, keeping the marchers safe from the traffic.. all of the officers there were wearing Purple ribbons, the ribbon to stop Child Abuse.. they wore them proudly and even held our banner whilst we took Pictures of them..

We set of Down Park lane shouting loudly, 'What do we want? JUSTICE! When do we want it? NOW!.... 'Break the silence, Break their Power, There's NO EXCUSE FOR CHILD ABUSE'.. the atmosphere was electric, all the people marching were either Survivors themselves or Supporters of a Survivor.. we proceeded down Park lane towards Hyde Park Corner and turned left towards Piccadily Circus, shouting all the way, 'What do we want? JUSTICE! When do we want it? NOW! also being shouted was ' What was done to me was WRONG, BUT! There's nothing wrong with me!.. How right were those word eh!... Many a time throughout the march I felt very emotional, as people on the street stopped to look at us when we passed them, some took pictures of the march others just waved in support.. The police were amazing, very friendly and kind towards all of us... we eventually arrived at Trafalgar Square after what seemed like a hundred miles of walking, of course it wasn't that far really but to my feet it sure felt like it!..

We marched into a packed Trafalgar Square where the loud speakers were set up, as they started Playing the Gloria Gaynor song 'I will Survive' almost everyone started singing.. the organisers kept saying 'we can't hear you!' so we sang louder..lol.. then the music stopped and the man on the microphone reminded us all why we were there.. He told us that this March/Rally had been running for some ten years or so and he had attended every year! I had only just found out about this last year, but because of the London Bombings last year the march had been cancelled!.. so this was the First time for me and many other people there... Trafalgar Square, being a big tourist area was packed with people who had not done the march, many stopped to listen to what was going on, Some of the survivors took to the microphone and told stories that would make your heart break, some had acheived justice against their Abusers some had not.

The poem I placed up here yesterday 'Make them Pay' was read out to the crowd by a very kind lady who was there, I was unable to do it myself as I get to emotional talking in public.. she did an amazing Job for me, it was hard for me though to hear the way she read it, completely different to how I read my work.. she made some words stand out more than others to get the point across.. and everyone in Trafalgar Square heard her say my words...

As tears flowed down my face, seeing how it affected other Survivors I felt not only amazed, but very sad .. sad that all these other people understood the pain I feel almost everyday, sad that they had experienced the same kind of Trauma that I had, but glad that they had the strength to be there yesterday and gain support in their healing.. music was played at various points of the afternoon including the song... When you need a friend, somebody to lean on... I can't remember the name of that song today, but it was so appropriate as everyone linked up and held hands as we sang, 'call on me brother when you need a friend, we ALL need somebody to lean on' !! Many tears were shed there yesterday, mine and my friends.. one of my friends a fellow survivor of just 20 yr old took to the microphone and said a few words about the effects of Abuse on her! she was so brave!... we stayed in the square talking to people and making many new friends.. one young Lad of just 15yr took the microphone and said he also had been abused, he was so brave he had not been in the March but just happened to be in the area and heard the noise, he came over to find out what was going on..... I wish I had been able to do that myself... I talked to him afterwards and found out that he is STILL LIVING IT! He is still being abused today... So we tried to help him, tried to get him some help to get away from the Abuse.. Hopefully we did enough.. time will tell..

After a very emotional afternoon, we headed towards Downing Street where the petition and My poem were going to be handed in to Tony Blair( Prime Minister)... hopefully he will take note and make moves to give out stiffer sentences to the people who commit this crime... Then it was time to head for home.. we said a very sad goodbye to our friends,( WHO WE WILL KEEP IN TOUCH WITH) and headed for the train station... by this time we were all in a lot of pain, with sore feet etc.. but with a feeling of euphoria that we had acheived what we set out to do.. we stopped to eat on the way and finally got back home at 11.30pm.. (Problems on Southern Central trains again).. arriving back home we collapsed in the chairs but couldn't stop talking about what an emotional day it had been.. we will keep in touch with the fantastic people we met and we will do the March again next year! But hopefully many more people will turn up to support it, we need lots more to take part in the march, we need to really stop the traffic in Central London for quite a long time to make people hear the message..
' THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE' WHAT DO WE WANT? JUSTICE! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!!

Hopefully in the next day or two my feet will stop hurting as will my back, but the euphoric feeling of being around all those fantastic, Brave people will NEVER leave me.. I will remember that day for as long as I live...