Faith's Story
Faith was only 12 when her mother died and her dad wasn’t able to cope with his grief and a teenage daughter, so Faith arranged to move in with a friend, who from the outside seemed to have the perfect family life. Instead of finding a new family, Faith’s life began to get even worse; she was physically and mentally abused and treated like a slave.
“I had to wake up between 5 and 7, clean the house, wake up the kids and bath the young one before she goes to nursery. I had to cook food for the other ones, and my friend and her husband.
“My friend’s mother used to beat me almost every day. She said I wasn’t allowed to sleep next to her babies because they were like princesses and I’m her slave. So I had to sleep downstairs on the floor and it was so cold. If I went upstairs I would get beaten. I was only 12 and it was like hell to me, I’d lost my mother and felt like my dad didn’t want me, I was trapped!”
“When I was going to school one girl used to ask me why I came in with scratches and bruises. I started crying and told her what was happening. She told me I had to tell someone or my new family would kill me. Then one day after a really bad beating I packed my stuff. My friend asked me what I was doing and I told her I was going to wash my clothes. I went out the back and started running and running.
“I’m much happier now I don’t have to sleep on the floor, and go in and out when I like but I feel my private fostering arrangement spoiled my childhood.
“Luckily for me, my dad pulled himself together and is now the best dad in the world, so in some ways, things worked out. I just wish somebody had been checking up on my placement and helped me when I felt so trapped.”
If Faith’s dad had notified the Council, she would not have had to endure this torment, as a social worker would have been assigned to ensure that she was safe and well looked after.