Would you lot help me create a cracking victim statement for court? Triggering*

[Blackdays]

This is just an initial feeler to see if you lot might be able to help me with some well-chosen phrases to nail home a really brilliant victim statement? I am prosecuting my df for historic child abuse, the police think I've got a really good case, there's loads of evidence. My abuse has moulded my entire life and had a castastrophic impact. I want to have a victim statement that really impresses upon the court the devastating consequences for me. I don't know how to put the agonising grind into words. I wondered if I put the basic details in a quieter part of this site, you might be able to help me phrase it well. I'm not looking to write anything that isn't 100% truthful. Or is this a bad idea & I should just go it alone? Sometimes I read such eloquently written stuff here.

I don’t think eloquence is all they want from a victim statement. You need it to be true to you.
Write your thoughts of how it’s affected you if you can. (I understand Perhaps it’s hard for you) in separate chunks.
It might all look like a lot of words at first. But leave it for a while and then come back to it and work out which bits you really want to convey, and edit.
I think it will take time for you to sift through all the pain and decide which bits you want to keep.
Don’t think about how others will perceive it, this is as much for you as for anyone else.
You’ve said a lot already about “devastating consequences” I would start from there.

Sending you
I’m very sorry this has happened to you, and FYI you already sound very eloquent.
X

As a police officer I have written these a million times. However I think you should pour it out from the heart. It's not something anyone else can do for you. If it helps, write a list of words and then incorporate each one into a sentence and then bang, you have your VPS. Categorise your list of words into emotions, how it affected your childhood, how it affects hour adult life and how it affects the person you are and the choices you make.

I had to write a victim impact statement - as a victim. It was hard but ultimately worth it.

Try write it in your head a few times first. I also followed their suggested categories of impact (physical, emotional, financial etc ) to get me started - it also helped express how utterly total the impact was.

Finally - I'm afraid it will never feel like you've done it justice however it's a positive thing to do and very healing in itself.

Great responses so far. It has to come from you, from the heart. Write your feelings and then re visit it every few days. You'll get there in the end. X

I’m sorry I can’t help here, but just wanted to offer my support for what you’re doing. I too was abused by my father as a child and I’ve never felt able to pursue anything against him. You should be extremely proud of how strong you are.

I don't think you can ask anyone to do this. It has to come from you. And if you give evidence and then go on to use terms or language you wouldn't normally use, it won't sound like you.

I was present when my son and his gf did their statement and it brought me to tears because I had no idea just how their event had affected them. Imo it's only something you can tell.