Women suffer in silence about sexual abuse — and I should know

THE first time I covered a sexual assault case I remember sitting in the court room and being stunned by the evidence — when I realised that I had experienced the same abuse that was being outlined by the victim.

It may sound stupid, but I had genuinely never thought of the casual sexist abuse I routinely encountered as criminal. Instead, I labelled it odious behaviour by a minority of cretins that was best not to dwell on. The fact that this behaviour was so pervasive was just bad luck.

It’s hard to know at what point girls become inured to sexual assaults and conditioned to endure them, as occasional unwanted intrusions into their lives, but it happens at a young age. One of my first memories of being assaulted was when I was in school and, after an assembly, when the halls were crammed with students and teachers, being pinned against a wall and groped by a boy in my year. I remember feeling humiliated, panicked and helpless. I was surrounded by people but no one was aware of what was happening and I was too shocked and embarrassed to utter a word. I didn’t tell anyone.