Showing titles in Child Abuse

My mother was bipolar, mentally ill, a sociopath that not only got pregnant by my 15-year-old father but went on to abuse me in every way imaginable. This is my story. People have a hard time believing that women, especially mothers who are supposed to protect their children, can be molesters and pedophiles, but my mother was one. I am not only telling my story for my own recovery, exposing the sins of the mothers in our family, but to help others to see that if this happened to them, they are not alone, and they can recover and have healthy, reasonably happy lives.

Do you blame yourself for being abandoned or neglected as a child, or suffer from poor self-esteem, anxiety, or depression as a result? Do you have deep feelings of shame, defectiveness, and insecurity that impact your life and relationships? If so, you are not alone. These are common experiences for survivors of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). But what happened to you as a child or young adult isn’t your fault. By understanding how you were affected, you can start on the path to healing and personal growth.

In this volume, you’ll hear some stories that take place as recently as a few years ago, while others date back as far as the 1930s. There’s the story of a young Russian immigrant who came to the United States seeking the exciting lifestyle he’d seen on television, only to be stabbed, set on fire, and left to die in the desert by his own friends. There’s also the story of a brawny railway worker who couldn’t control his steroid-fueled rage. There’s one of a brawny railway worker who couldn’t control his steroid-fueled rage. And more.

Was your mother always shaming you, making you feel rejected? Was it always about her? Was she often emotionally, or even physically abusive towards you? Sadly, this is how narcissists act, and despite the vast majority of mothers being very maternal & loving, narcissistic mothers just aren’t like this. And, of course, this leaves scars as you become an adult.

Twelve true crime stories of murder and mayhem. Fifth audiobook of the True Crime Case Histories Series (2020). When researching these stories, I commonly use actual police reports, court documents, and first-hand descriptions. Some of the details can be disconcerting. I do my best to not leave out any of the details in my audiobooks, no matter how depraved they may be. My intent is not to shock, but to show precisely how twisted the mind of a killer can be. The stories in this volume are shocking and disturbing, but they’re also true. These things really do happen in the world.

Left as a newborn in a box outside Stoke City Football ground, her grandparents took her into their home. But instead of finding a sanctuary, Nicky was subjected to horrific sexual abuse throughout her childhood. In 1951, when Nicky was six years old, her glamorous-looking estranged mother arrived on the doorstep to 'rescue' her. But Nicky's hopes of a safe and loving family were very soon smashed, and her world became darker still. 

Children of Coercive Control extends Evan Stark's path-breaking analysis of interpersonal violence to children, showing that coercive control is the most important cause and context of child abuse and child homicide outside a war zone, as well as of the sexual abuse, denigration, exploitation, isolation, and subordination of children. The book provides a working model of the coercive control of children and illustrates its dynamics and consequences with dramatic cases drawn from the headlines and Dr. Stark's forensic practice.

A homeless foster kid finds redemption in Iraq.

Thrust into state care at six months of age because of an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother, Teresa Cooper spent an unsettled childhood in a variety of children's homes. At age 13, she was sent to Kendall House in Gravesend, Kent, a home which soon became her prison and worst nightmare. Teresa found herself a victim of a terrible regime: she was injected with dangerously high doses of drugs and sexually abused.

Amy had a happy childhood until the death of her mother when she was 10. Her father became an abusive alcoholic and she was quickly abandoned by him, given money so she would leave the house and leave him alone. And disappear she did - to drug dens, with the tragic consequence that she became addicted to heroin by age 12. Soon after, Amy's father kicked her out and she became homeless, going into care but quickly back onto the streets with other teenagers who had fallen through the net.

Just a Girl is the shocking true story of Scarlett Jones, who was abused by her loved ones, groomed and trafficked by a gang, all the while fearing for her life. Scarlett is just 8 years old when the horrific abuse at the hands of her father begins. It creates a world of shocking normality, one that she can only escape in her mind. Little Scarlett dreams of a time when she can be free... and then she meets Ed. Groomed and trafficked by her boyfriend, Scarlett realises she has been primed for abuse ever since she was a child. This is her harrowing story.

“I’m a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no.” Nujood Ali's childhood came to an abrupt end in 2008 when her father arranged for her to be married to a man...

Electroshock therapy, child abuse, and modern-day slavery... just another day in Christine's life. Take a heart-wrenching yet inspiring ride through one woman's incredible journey that is so compelling that you are simultaneously trying to look away and unable to stop yourself from listening on. Christine's father is a wealthy, tyrannical man renowned in the diamond business. At the age of just five, little Christine is cast aside into a boarding school where she is ridiculed for two embarrassing problems. She grows up in a never-ending circle of traumatic experiences.

His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.

Born in Liverpool, Malik was taken into care at the age of nine after his seafaring father became paralysed. He would spend his adolescence in a system that proved violent, neglectful, exploitative, traumatising and mired in abuse. Aged 18, he emerged semi-literate, penniless with no connections or sense of where he was going - until a chance meeting with Gil Scott-Heron. Letters to Gil will tell the story of Malik’s empowerment and awakening while mentored by Gil, from his introduction to the legacy of Black history to the development of his voice through poetry and music.

The heartbreaking, iconic true story of an abandoned little boy’s horrific journey through the American foster care system. On a misty evening in Brooklyn, Jennings Michael Burch’s mother, too sick to care for him, left her eight-year-old son at an orphanage with the words, “I’ll be...

A dramatic and terrifying memoir of a ‘catfish’ scenario – when a woman meets a man online but nothing is what it seems. 25-year-old Megan Henley put her five-year-old daughter to bed one evening and switched on her laptop. A Facebook ‘friend request’ seemed to be genuine. There were a...

A journalist struggles to unearth the story of her mother’s resilience and secrecy following an unbelievable childhood trauma in South Africa “One day I will tell you the story of my life,” promises Emma Brockes’s mother, “and you will be amazed.” Despite her mother’s tales of a...

The shocking true story of a young boy hidden away from his family and the world in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin. Born an 'unfortunate' onto the rough streets of 1950s Dublin, this is the incredible true story of a young boy, a secret child born into a home for unmarried...

Childhood trauma is more common than any healthy society would like, with more than two-thirds of children reporting at least one traumatic event by age 16.