Violet, now 25, was 13 when she was groomed online and sexually assaulted by multiple men. Her story, featured in the BBC documentary Britain's Forgotten Girls, challenges the stereotype that grooming only happens to vulnerable children from troubled backgrounds. Violet grew up in a loving, middle-class home in London, yet she was targeted, abused, and later taken into care against her family's wishes.
A Happy Childhood Masked Hidden Struggles
Violet describes her early years as privileged and happy. 'I was very lucky and privileged. I was loved,' she tells Metro. Her mother and stepfather had good careers, and the family enjoyed a comfortable life. 'We had a good life. I didn't struggle growing up.'
Despite this stable foundation, Violet began to struggle as she approached adolescence. Feelings of isolation and awkwardness that she had suppressed for years surfaced, leading to behavioural problems. 'Mum and my teachers struggled to manage me. I was very badly behaved at school, I was put under the mental health team, there was a lot going on,' she explains. People called her 'out of control' and 'devil child,' and she felt increasingly isolated.
The Online Grooming Began at 13
When Violet started secondary school at 11, she found the new freedom difficult to handle. Seeking connection, she created a Facebook account at around 12 and posted photos of herself. 'I put a bit of makeup on and I got 100 likes and loads of people – both friends and strangers – told me how beautiful I was. It was a rush,' she recalls.
An older man, whom Violet declined to name, contacted her on BlackBerry Messenger when she was 13. The conversations started innocently. 'It was just small talk, no different from how I would talk to other boys at the time. There was nothing that screamed red flag,' she says. When he invited her to meet him one night, Violet went with a friend, feeling confident and unaware of the danger.
The Assault and Its Aftermath
At the address, a 'really disgusting building,' the man was waiting with other men. Violet's friend left immediately. Violet stayed, expecting a taxi home. She was then surrounded by men and raped. 'I remember how much fear I felt within that moment when I was being touched without consent. My body went into shutdown,' she tells the documentary.
After the assault, Violet messaged the man, who apologised and promised to make things right. The next day, she went to meet him, but a different man was waiting in a car. She felt she had no choice but to get in and endured another assault. 'I felt unsafe, embarrassed, ashamed and disgusted with what had gone on,' she says.
Her parents had reported her missing. When she returned home, they were distressed. Violet, in a dissociative state, took a knife from a drawer. 'I don't think I wanted to kill myself. I was just feeling like I was out of control,' she remembers. Police examination found multiple men's DNA inside her body. Her attackers were on the DNA database, but Violet was told they would be prosecuted for drugs offences rather than rape.
Life in Care and the Road to Recovery
Violet was taken into care against her and her parents' wishes. She spent her teens moving between homes across the country, sometimes hundreds of miles away. 'I went from one situation where I was unsafe to another where I was equally unsafe,' she says. Men continued to groom and abuse her while she was in care.
Now 25, Violet has been sober for over two years and is in 12-step recovery. She works in reproductive health, a role she finds healing. She credits her family for fighting for her and helping her get the support she needed. 'If I didn't have the family I did, I would be in a very different situation now,' she says.
Violet is sharing her story to demand better child protection and education. 'It's ridiculous to think that conversations about sexual exploitation aren't happening in schools,' she says. 'Anybody can be exploited. It is not limited to class, gender, ethnicity or religion.' Britain's Forgotten Girls is available on iPlayer and BBC Two from 9pm.
