In this new piece, Laura Fisher speaks out about the harm caused when far-right narratives hijack survivor experiences to push hate. Laura is the Founder of Survivor Sanctuary and part of our 2025 Spokesperson programme.
I’m speaking out because this matters to me, and to many of us – survivors of sexual abuse – who are quietly hurting, watching our stories being used as a political football.
I am frustrated and frightened by how far-right groups have co-opted sexual abuse survivor experiences to push racist and anti-migrant narratives, especially around so-called “grooming gangs”. Too many people are speaking about survivors, but not with us. Too many headlines are fuelling hate. I lead a survivor-led grassroots organisation offering peer support and healing after sexual violence. Survivors we work with are clear: They want Survivor Sanctuary to help them challenge it, speak out, and take action.The racialised narrative around sexual abuse is harming our community.
Because it is harming us.
Let me be clear: abuse happens in all communities. The idea that abuse is a ‘foreign problem’ is not only false – it’s harmful.
When these narratives dominate headlines they distract from the reality that most perpetrators are known to the victim. Racialised narratives protect perpetrators who don’t fit the media’s preferred ‘type’ of offender, potentially enabling abuse to continue unchecked. They reinforce myths about who commits sexual abuse, making it harder for current victims to recognise what’s happening to them or to feel they’ll be believed.
When we focus only on sensationalised or racialised portrayals of abusers, we ignore the truth: abuse is most often committed by someone the victim knows and trusts. That person could be: your neighbour; your colleague; a teacher, coach or faith leader; a friend of the family or romantic partner. In England and Wales, where the perpetrator’s ethnicity was recorded, 90% of those convicted of child sexual abuse were white.
I grew up on Disney villains, easy to spot with their sharp features, long cloaks, and living in the shadows. But in real life, abusers rarely look like villains. They don’t hide in dark alleys. More often, they hide in plain sight, protected by silence, reputation, and power.
“we need allies who listen to and believe survivors”
The sooner we stop expecting abusers to look a certain way, the sooner we can start listening to survivors when they tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.
We don’t need politicians using our pain to score points. We don’t need sensational headlines that reinforce myths. We need a society that stops shying away from the realities of sexual abuse, particularly child sexual abuse.
People must stop looking for scapegoats to stoke hatred and division, we must collectively face the truth that there are perpetrators within every community and that this is a societal problem. We need media that tells the truth without fuelling stigma or division. And we need allies who listen to and believe survivors, who challenge victim-blaming when they hear it and are willing to step out of their comfort zone to do this.
People’s discomfort with the idea of a perpetrator in their midst can even lead them to shield that person. When I reported my perpetrator, I submitted a list of over 50 people who could verify what they saw, what they heard, what they knew. Nearly all of them chose to do nothing. The person who caused me harm was protected by their silence.
Those same people who kept silent may be more comfortable imagining perpetrators are somehow ‘other’ than themselves, than their perceived social group. I now see some of the people who failed to provide testimony in my case posting on social media in support of protests outside hotels housing refugees and asylum seekers, saying it’s about “keeping women and girls safe.”
If your advocacy for women’s safety only shows up when it’s aimed at strangers, not the people in your own community, it isn’t about justice. It’s about prejudice.
About the Author
Laura Fisher is the founder of Survivor Sanctuary, a survivor-led grassroots organisation offering peer support and healing after sexual violence. Based in Coventry, Laura created Survivor Sanctuary out of her own experience of isolation as a survivor. She offers peer support groups that centre collective healing, and advocates nationally for better systems and awareness around the long-term impact of sexual violence.
Laura champions creativity as a healing tool and stands as a committed ally to trans and marginalised communities, advocating for inclusive, survivor-led movements that honour lived experience leadership.
Instagram: survivor_sanctuary_cov
Website: https://www.survivorsanctuary.co.uk