Child abuse campaigner’s message goes worldwide

A CAMPAIGN against child sexual abuse started by a woman from Henley has spread worldwide.

Emma-Jane Taylor, who was abused as a child herself, began the #NotMyShame movement on social media last year.

Since then she has received support from campaigners in America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Dubai, South Africa, Germany and Pakistan.

The campaign was also highlighted at the United Nations general assembly meeting in New York last month when Pakistani actress Nadia Jamil shared a video calling for zero tolerance of child sexual abuse while wearing a #NotMyShame T-shirt.

Ms Taylor, 51, who founded the charity Project 90/10 to tackle child sexual abuse, had posted on social media that “being abused as a child was not my shame...”

Last year, she began to use the slogan #notmyshame with the message: “I am not afraid to say I was sexually abused as a child. I was just a child, it isn’t my shame.”

The message received a lot of support from other abuse survivors, so earlier this year she put the slogan on a T-shirt and began to wear it.

She was stopped in the street by people who wanted to discuss their own traumatic childhoods and a photo of herself wearing the T-shirt online went viral, with followers asking where they could buy one.

In May she set up an online shop selling T-shirts with all donations going to Project 90/10.

Ms Taylor said she was overwhelmed by the support she had received, particularly from Nadia Jamil, who is an influencer in Pakistan.

She said: “Nadia proudly shared a very important message with the UN, which has already received great support. Campaigners in Kenya have got in touch and want to get involved off the back of it.

“Hundreds of people have bought the T-shirt and many more are using the hashtag.”

Celebrities have endorsed the campaign, including actor Charles Lawson, who played Jim McDonald in Coronation Street, and former UB40 vocalist Matt Hoy.

Lawson said: “I was on social media and saw EJ wearing her
T-shirt and I nearly fell over. I’m a great admirer of courage and it takes a lot of courage to wear a
T-shirt like that. I contacted her and said, ‘I think you’ve got balls of steel.’

“I thought it was important to get a man on board with the campaign and one that can help with its profile. I got away by the skin of my teeth when I was at boarding school in Northern Ireland but there were others who didn’t.

“EJ and I became firm friends very quickly and she and her fiancé came to my wedding recently. She’s very special.”

Hoy said: “The reason this campaign is so important is that it gives those people who have tragically been impacted by child abuse a voice and the opportunity to take back control.

“The courage a person must possess to stand up and say ‘no more’ must be completely overwhelming.

“Emma-Jane has given survivors a powerful platform, along with the confidence for individuals to stand up and say, ‘Not my shame’, thus opening the door for many others to take back their power. Incredible.”

Ms Taylor said: “We’ve launched a Not My Shame private Facebook group for survivors of child sexual abuse and have chat rooms about safe subjects and also offer support. It’s another layer of support for survivors.

“There are going to be coffee mornings in the UK and then Canada and Australia, where survivors can go and be supported and heard.”

She is planning a ball to raise funds for Project 90/10 and an international #notmyshame day to mark the first anniversary of the charity in May.

Ms Taylor said: “It has got bigger than I thought. I’m so proud and sometimes quite emotional. I get so many messages every day, all of them very touching.

“I never thought I would be a campaigner. I didn’t achieve what I have to date without a lot of therapy and support.

“I was in therapy when I was young and was in and out throughout my twenties and thirties.

“I don’t advise anyone to speak up or share anything about their personal story in public until you have a greater understanding of you, your journey, what you are facing and how you are facing it.”

She recently became engaged and said: “I’m very happy I’m going to be married to Mark. He is very supportive of everything I do. We plan to get married in the next year.”