[ad_1]
Debbie Wade, 51, confronted the media for the first time on Tuesday and, after holding back tears for several seconds, spoke about the sexual abuse she suffered more than 40 years ago and that has consumed her life ever since.
She spoke angrily at how she had been ignored for nearly 20 years, and spoke with determination about how she would like to see her abuser, now a prominent swimming coach, kept away from girls and even imprisoned.
“The only reason I’m excited today is that someone is finally listening to me and someone is listening to me,” she said at the press conference in Johannesburg, organized by Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA).
Wade’s abuse began at a Durban swim club in 1979, when he was 10, at the hands of his coach’s 13-year-old son.
She knows at least three other victims. Suzanne, in her training squad at the time and two years older than Wade, wants to remain anonymous. Wade and Suzanne have filed charges with the police.
Wade learned about the other two victims while undergoing psychotherapy in the early 2000s, two girls, one 12 and the other 13.
When Wade, who suffered from postpartum depression, finally told his psychologist about Mr. X, his therapist informed him that he was treating two girls who had also been abused by him.
She read a confirmation letter written by her psychologist: “This serves to confirm that… Wade revealed to me… that Mr. X, her coach’s son, had repeatedly sexually abused her.
“He also said he was concerned that Mr. X might continue to abuse young swimmers. I told him that there were two girls he was treating who had allegedly been abused by Mr. X ”.
From that moment he decided to fight.
“This isn’t just about me … it’s about the fact that [had] listen 24 years later [from 1979 to 2003] that this person kept abusing other girls, ”Wade said, adding that their parents had not believed them.
For nearly 20 years, Wade’s attempts to expose Mr. X fell on deaf ears.
In 2003, he went to the national championships in the King’s Park pool, grabbed the then-president of KwaZulu-Natal Aquatics and told him his story.
“[He replied] yeah, it really doesn’t surprise you much because there have been several complaints about Mr. X over the years, but there was actually no evidence. Did you have any proof?
“I’m not sure what [he] wanted me to bring as proof of rape after 24 hours. That was the end of the discussion. It never came back to me. “
Wade then wrote a letter to Mr. X, which she sent him by certified mail, pleading with him to “stop playing with the little girls.”
He said he received comments through a third party that Mr. X had dismissed his accusation, describing their relationship as “consensual”.
He then went to the police in 2004, and again they asked for evidence. They did not help.
“Over the years I have not kept quiet. There are people in the swimming community who know my story and my accusations, but no one has ever taken me seriously. No, they prefer to believe Mr. X. “
On July 18 he plucked up his courage once again and raised the matter with the Chairman of Swimming SA, Alan Fritz. “It’s a nightmare to relive this, it’s an absolute nightmare not to be heard and to be silenced.”
Fritz ordered an independent investigation, which resulted in a report.
Wade and WMACA, who played a pivotal role in condemning tennis legend Bob Hewitt, have criticized how Fritz has handled the matter, but a member of the federation said disciplinary action had already been instituted against Mr. X.
After more than four decades, Wade finally dares to dream of justice.
[ad_2]
