Lights Out: The Last Taboo

I've known Sophie Olson for a few years. Not well, but I see her in the street and we wave. Our kids used to go to the same playground. She heard something I'd made a while back and said "I had no idea you were creative, I'm creative too. Would you like to read my book?" And I said yes. And Oh. My. She writes so beautifully. Her story is shocking - almost incomprehensible - but, I discovered as I talked to her more and more, not especially uncommon. And the more we spoke about her experiences, the more it became clear that the thing that was really shocking is that, as a society, we refuse to talk about childhood sexual abuse. It is so unpalatable, so uncomfortable, so distressing, that we prefer to shut down whenever it is mentioned. Change the subject. But where does that leave survivors, and where does it leave children experiencing abuse right now?

Sophie makes the point that unless we start talking about child sexual abuse; admitting that it happens; admitting that the perpetrators are often upstanding family men; removing the atmosphere of shock and shame that shrouds survivors who try to speak; Unless we start being open, nothing will change. Perpetrators will always have secrecy to hide behind, and secrecy will continue to retraumatise survivors. Lights Out: The Last Taboo is our little drop in the ocean - a powerful testimony to the importance of talking about it. The snippet above intertwines work by Sophie and another survivor, John Slater, co-founder of moMENtum, looking at the medicalisation of normal responses to extreme trauma. You can find out more about Sophie's story and her work here.

I'm incredibly grateful for the guidance of Alan Hall from Falling Tree and of course my ever-wonderful co-producer Phoebe McIndoe.