Rotherham grooming survivor: children born through abuse should be "secondary victims" in law
Sammy Woodhouse's son was conceived when she was abused
Last updated 16th Feb 2021
A survivor of the Rotherham grooming scandal is calling for children who were conceived through rape to be recognised in law as victims themselves.
Sammy Woodhouse's son was born through her abuse as a teenager in the town. His biological father has since been jailed for sexual offending.
She now wants the law to recognise children as 'secondary victims' to protect them from paternal contact and give them access to more support.
She's told us it's been really hard dealing with the situation:
"I can't even put into words just how difficult it has been for me and my son. A lot of people just didn't know what to do with us. And for me as a mother I would have just wanted to know, how do I approach my son and sit down and talk to him about this? How much do I tell him?
"We just felt very alone in it and I know that my son felt very alone in things even though there were so many children out there conceived in the same way.
"Just for other families to be able to get that advice and support would be life changing. Not only that but I'm asking for a law to be put in place so that the children conceived through rape will be seen as secondary victims so that will give them a voice and protect them."
It comes after controversy back in 2018 when Sammy's son's dad, who is in prison, was offered a role in his life by the local authority.
Rotherham Council reviewed the case with the Ministry of Justice and said at the time there was no intention to put any children at risk.
Ever since then Sammy has called for a change in the law to prevent rapists being given access to children conceived through their abuse.
She tells us formally recognising children like hers who were born through rape as victims would help them and their mothers:
"I remember my son saying to me: mum you've got the platform, you are the voice of survivors, who's our voice? The children have been lost, they have been forgotten, they still are. We're here in 2021 - they still don't have a voice and no-one's recognised that.
"But what's also really important is that the services around the country that do work with women and with children, that they are trained in giving advice, support and theraputic services to children and to mothers. When you combine that, it is life-changing."
Sammy's written to MPs and ministers calling for the change in the law.
Her MP Alexander Stafford, who represents Rother Valley, is backing the idea - he told us children need support and protection:
"They need to have professional help to deal with that situation. No-one wants to know that their biological father is a rapist, and clearly there's going to be some danger out there. So we need to make sure innocent children are completely protected and given the help that they need.
"We need that help to get the children to deal with the situation but also there are further safeguarding issues as well. I do not think it's appropriate in the slightest that authorities have any sort of encouragement that the rapist father has anything to do with the child."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told us:
“Under the Victims’ Code anyone can access support if they are affected by a crime.
“Supporting victims of sexual violence and abuse remains a priority for this Government which is why we are investing an extra £40m in support services.
“We have also launched a review into the presumption of parental involvement in cases where children are conceived through rape."