Woman Who Was Beaten and Raped by Her Father Aged Four

A mother who survived horrific abuse growing up is striving to make Christmas special for her three sons - despite the time of year bringing back horrific memories.

Amelia (name changed to protect her identity), from Nottinghamshire, who is now in her early twenties, said the festive season can be a difficult time as it reminds her of dark days when she was raped and beaten by her father.

Her violent parent would often be away from home with his job but was always given time off at Christmas, making this the worst time of the year for his terrified family.

Amelia recalls: 'At Christmas time my father was always on leave so the abuse was pretty much guaranteed. I felt anxious continuously. I wasn't thinking about the Christmas presents that I would get like other children. I was thinking about how to avoid being at home.

'I felt like I couldn't wear pretty Christmas party dresses because I’d have to cover up the bruises that I had.'

Amelia said her father's abuse started off being physical with him beating her with a belt but it turned sexual when she was just four years old.

She said: 'He used to smack me with his belt. I used to think "why doesn't he like me?" and then he told me he didn't ever want a girl.

'One day when I was four after hitting me he apologised and said "I'm going to show you how people who love each other show each other that". He undressed me and sexually abused me.

'I was confused and I didn't understand what had happened. He said that it was special but it didn't feel special.

'At first he told me I couldn't tell mum what had happened and I didn't want to as I was embarrassed. He would say "This is how daddies show their girls they love them".

'But then he started to say "I can either do this to you or I can do this to your mum" and I knew that she got upset when he did it to her so I just took it.'

Amelia said this abuse continued for years as she had nobody to confide in and she ended up developing an eating...