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WHEN YOU LISTEN TO
MANDY, IT'S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE HOW SHE SLIPPED THROUGH SO MANY OF OUR
SOCIETY'S SAFETY NETS. But her story is testimony to the dreadful situations in
which many young people are still trapped in the UK today. She lived on a housing estate in the Midlands with her parents and two younger sisters. When she was ten her father turned from petty crime to dealing in drugs. He also started abusing Mandy, threatening her with torture and death if she told anyone. "He only abused me and not my sister," she recalls."That made me feel better and worse, because why me? One day when I was 15 I could not stand it any more and I went in the police station. But they didn't do anything. Only now do I understand why. They were planning a drugs raid on the house and did not want anything to spoil that." "My dad found out what I had done: someone tipped him off and my life was hell, so bad I had a breakdown. My mum was too scared to help me. Never once in the hospital or anywhere did people tell me I had rights, that I wasn't mad, or even get me to talk about the abuse." A week after leaving hospital she ran away and lived on the streets for two months, finally ending up in Manchester The next part is horrifyingly familiar. Hungry and homeless, she ended up as a young prostitute with a heroin habit. "Heroin was my way of blotting everything out. I met a lad and we went to Bolton. We lived on a building site. Inside I knew nothing was my fault, but there was no one I could trust who I could talk to. I was in a real mess, rock bottom." " I walked passed this place for young people one day and a lad at the door said 'Come in and have a cuppa'. I felt very shy, but he seemed genuine, not after anything. That was the first time anyone was interested in me. I met a woman who talked to me as an equal about my rights, my health and how I could tackle each one of my problems. It was a mountain but, like, I could climb it. They got me a doctor and into a rehab clinic. When your alone and homeless, things like that seem impossible to do." " I'm taking my 'A' levels now. I've got a place and I want to go to college. I'm clean off drugs. But I will never forget what that helping hand did for me. I'm even starting to help other young people on the streets." "Lots of them have suffered terrible violence. When you are young you think you have to take it, but you don't. You can get a different life, if you find the right person to listen and help. You need never give in." Mandy is one of many young people helped by Save the Children's initiatives run in partnership with councils and other agencies providing practical help and sanctuary to young people escaping abusive situations or coping with the consequences. The girls name and some other details have been changed to protect here identity |
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