In reply to monkeychoss:
Thank you for posting this. Some on UKC may have read Mick Ward's long review of my book The Corridor which describes my life as a climber before and after being raped by the deputy head teacher of my school from the age of nine for over four years. He was also a mountaineer, adventure film maker and children's TV presenter.
More recently I was invited to give a talk about the book and the issues around sexual and violent abuse to an audience of doctors, medical workers, mountain guides and instructors at the annual gathering of the British Mountain Medicine Society/BMC in Hathersage.
Sexual abuse is found in every field of human activity: for too long there has been a conspiracy of silence by those in positions of power from archbishops down to scout leaders that leaves the victims with all the shame and guilt that should rightfully belong to the abusers and to the culture that protects them.
I am now in my late seventies, happily married with children and grandchildren who share my passion for climbing and the wild places. My own childhood, like so many millions, was stolen; were it not for my love of climbing I may not have survived. I am determined that we, as climbers, as a society, have to work openly and together to try to seek a solution to a crime that continues to destroy so many lives.
For sure my story is one of pain suffered but also one of hope and closure. It is time to speak out and I am grateful to UKC for the courage to give me space to give voice to a subject that many of its users may find extremely uncomfortable.
