Trigger warning - this is about violence and abuse to a little girl

[ScrollingLeaves]

Today on Woman’s Hour Emma Barnett heard the testament of Rachael Watts, a now grown woman, who was abducted off the street after asking the way, raped, strangled and left for dead in the undergrowth of an icy cold roadside aged 7, thirty years ago.

I have never heard anything so harrowing in my life and could barely listen for the thudding of my heart and a deadly feeling of despair and sorrow.

Did any of you happen to hear it?
You can listen here.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001fmq8
1 min 30 sec in.

If you have heard it please tell me:
Am I being unreasonable to think, after listening to this, that we have absolutely no idea been about the real levels of horror suffered by sexually abused children? That for most of us on the outside they are just statistics, not real voices?

A journalist who originally reported the case anonymously started a go fund me page to build a beautiful garden for this woman who suffers from complex PTSD now, all these years on, and is unable to go out.

Of course it's incredibly distressing and beyond horrifying. This kind of incident is rare, most sexual violence and abuse occurs within the home or is perpreteted by someone known to the child, a family member or trusted person.

I heard it, the interview made me cry. The attack itself was bad enough but the fact she was told everytime he appealed and came up for parole. And he made her doubt herself thinking she may have got the wrong man. What a piece of shit he was.

This reads like you’re minimising abuse in the home/by a known perpetrator. I’m wondering why you’re comparing- genuinely wondering what your post means… not trying to be confrontational in the least. Just wondering what message you’re giving.

It was more the opposite of that, pointing out that there is not a lot of random abductions and rapes like this (thank god obviously) but that the hidden harm of sexual abuse is all around us, but that it isn't on the front of newspapers because it's not reported and the person is never prosecuted. I wasn't trying to compare but more point out that it mostly doesn't look like this.

BeanCounterBabe · Today 20:16
I heard it, the interview made me cry. The attack itself was bad enough but the fact she was told everytime he appealed and came up for parole. And he made her doubt herself thinking she may have got the wrong man. What a piece of shit he was.

I agree, then on the Go Fund me page we also read this -
a person who could not have endured greater trauma, and who is now suffering from severe and Complex PTSD as a result of this and all the aftermath, is not eligible for disability benefits.

Rachael is a proud, stoical person and has found it hard to obtain the help she needs and deserves. Now 40, she has developed agoraphobia – a profound terror of the outdoors – and been diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, acute anxiety and agonising Fibromyalgia (sometimes linked to stress). But she has been turned down for disability benefits and received little therapeutic support.

Brave, brave child grown into a brave, brave woman
Link to the programme
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001fmq8
Rachael Watts has spent her life hiding a secret. Now 40, she was seven years old when Russell Bishop - known as the Babes in the Wood murderer - abducted, attacked and sexually assaulted her in 1990. It is a crime that should never have happened, as back in 1987, Russell Bishop had been charged with the murders of two nine-year-olds, Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway. But police were unable to secure a conviction when a series of prosecution blunders meant evidence and testimonies failed to stand up in court. Bishop was able to walk free and three years later he abducted and attacked Rachael, leaving her for dead. Miraculously she survived and it was her testimony which finally meant Bishop was convicted and put behind bars, despite him protesting his innocence. However, in 2018, forensic scientists presented new DNA evidence and Bishop received two life sentences for the murders of Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway. Ever since her attack, Rachael’s family have fought to protect her privacy, hoping she could lead as normal life as possible. Rachael has never done a broadcast interview about what happened to her. But since Russell Bishop’s death in January this year, she decided she wanted to tell her story.

Apologies, in my initial post I gave the wrong details of where her assailant dumped what he thought was her dead body. It was in a gorse bush near a beauty spot on the South Downs. Not that it makes a difference except to say it was lucky for her that a couple had stopped to have tea by the spot and they rescued her.

I have started writing a message on this thread and the one before on the feminism site over and over again this evening. Whilst refreshing her Go Fund me page hoping to see a sudden huge increase.
I just cannot find the words to express my feelings upon hearing what she endured and endures.

A post on the fundraising site written by the journalist who set it up:

Rachael is bowled over by the massive supportb she has received and thanks you all from the bottom of her heart. She does not consider herself good with words - not true! - but is drafting a message of thanks to send you all.

On the phone today, she cried with joy. I confess so did I. It is not just that the money so generously donated will hugely help her realise her dream of a healing garden. It is because the many lovely messages sent her made her realise she is not alone as she feared, and that she is possibly rather wonderful and not the failure she feared. Incredibly, at one stage she had confided to me that she wondered was it her 'fault' that she had not managed to fight off this awful man. A xeven year old child!
Today she said she has been powerfully been reminded of all the good and love in the world. So have I. What a wonderful antidote to the hardships she has suffered.

Thank you again and may you all know you are blessed.
Eileen, for Rachael

aside from the fundraising for her healing-garden if anyone knows of any initiatives to try and get Rachael the support she so obviously deserves please do let me know

Loungingstevens · Yesterday 23:48
A post on the fundraising site written by the journalist who set it up:

Sorry, somehow the rest got missed in that last message:
Rachael is bowled over by the massive supportb she has received and thanks you all from the bottom of her heart. She does not consider herself good with words - not true! - but is drafting a message of thanks to send you all.

On the phone today, she cried with joy. I confess so did I. It is not just that the money so generously donated will hugely help her realise her dream of a healing garden. It is because the many lovely messages sent her made her realise she is not alone as she feared, and that she is possibly rather wonderful and not the failure she feared. Incredibly, at one stage she had confided to me that she wondered was it her 'fault' that she had not managed to fight off this awful man. A xeven year old child!

Today she said she has been powerfully been reminded of all the good and love in the world. So have I. What a wonderful antidote to the hardships she has suffered.

Thank you again and may you all know you are blessed
Eileen, for Rachael

Thank you for posting this, Lounging. It is good to know Rachael has felt strengthened by all the support she has received. I hope that if the finds for her garden are exceeded, there might be enough to get her additional therapeutic support too.

Whenever there are threads like this someone pops up to say it is rare, as if without this reminder we would all go hysterical, or something.

There are incidents, and they used to be far more frequent than they were.

Does anyone have a link to the gofundme page?

My heart is so sore for this woman, what a horrendous she survived, I'm appalled that she was refused disability benefits!

I hope she raises enough money for her garden, it sounds Ike that is something that might help her heal.

No really sure of the point in saying this type of attack is rare, it's hardly going to be a comfort to Rachael.

I've donated to go fund me, how utterly horrific for her

If you Google her name and go fund me it comes up straight away.

I hope one day she finds happiness away from these horrific memories.

mimosaaa · Today 18:23
Does anyone have a link to the gofundme page?

If you look up Support Rachael - childhood abduction survivor The page was started by Eileen Fairweather.

It is against Mumsnet rules to post a direct link.

I went to school with Rachel. I still remember the day we heard what had happened to her. It absolutely impacted on all of us, and Rachel was always held up to us as an amazing example of ingenuity, bravery and resilience. I will definitely be donating to support this incredible and amazing woman!

Catbustotoro · Today 19:18
I went to school with Rachel. I still remember the day we heard what had happened to her. It absolutely impacted on all of us, and Rachel was always held up to us as an amazing example of ingenuity, bravery and resilience. I will definitely be donating to support this incredible and amazing woman!

What a terrible thing for you all to try to take in, Catbustotoro

She was brave, resilient and ingenious. To think how she managed to react and take what action she could in the boot of a car, aged only seven. And then to drag herself out of the gorse bush and make the decision to go towards the people in their car at the beauty spot.

Abduction may be rare, and it is more common for a child to be raped by someone they know. But it isn’t as though it was just the abduction and attempted murder that makes this so awful, it is that a man raped a child. Sadly that is not so very uncommon.

Does anyone have any contacts in the gardening makeover worldwho could help with Rachael's garden?

i feel like I’m missing something. None of the papers have picked up the story:
why haven’t the daily Mail covered it? Not that I want them to, but I know it would increase traffic to her site. can anyone tell me if I’m missing something obvious as to why the media coverage has been sparse?

Loungingstevens · Today 20:43
i feel like I’m missing something. None of the papers have picked up the story:
why haven’t the daily Mail covered it? Not that I want them to, but I know it would increase traffic to her site. can anyone tell me if I’m missing something obvious as to why the media coverage has been sparse?

The Argus
1 December 2022
www.theargus.co.uk/news/23164423.babes-wood-survivor-speaks-interview/

The Sun
1 October 2022
Eileen Fairweather reporting
(she has started the Go Find Me page)
www.thesun.co.uk/news/19978145/babes-in-wood-killer-victim/

A few other times this year, The Sun also covered the man, Russell Bishop, as the so called
Babes in the Wood’ murderer, and mentioned what happened to Rachael without naming her, and as a secondary story to this.

@ScrollingLeaves thank you.
that piece from the sun is quite comprehensive. The Argus is local to the area of the crime. It doesn’t have a big readership.

It still seems light to me.

I dont know really. Perhaps I’m losing perspective. As I said, I’m full of feeling and I can’t articulate it. I just feel helpless.
Hearing her say that she can’t get any financial support was so painful to hear.

I hadn't heard about this case and can't bring myself to listen to Rachael on Woman's hour, but I have donated because she deserves support and help.