[ad_1]
Dominico Zapata / Things
The Kiwi singer spoke with TVNZ Sunday reporter Tania Page about the trauma he experienced growing up.
Warning: this story is about physical and sexual abuse.
Kiwi musician Stan Walker has opened up about the abuse he experienced as a child.
On TVNZ Sunday, Walker spoke about the physical abuse he suffered from his father Ross Walker.
Stan: Stan Walker doco trailer
He also revealed that he had been sexually abused by a cousin when he was eight years old for almost every day after school for eight months.
“I was confused, I didn’t feel loved, I felt unworthy, I felt like an abomination,” Walker said of the sexual abuse.
“Time to open that lid and let everything out.”
During his childhood, Walker said his father was always waiting to give him a hiding place, and on one occasion he broke his elbow.
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
Stan Walker performing during Wellington Cup Day at Trentham Racecourse on January 18, 2020 in Wellington.
Walker said her mother, April Walker, bore the brunt of her father’s anger.
“I remember him stomping on my mother’s head, it just couldn’t be stopped,” he said.
READ MORE:
* Stan Walker releases new single Bigger with his nephew performing a younger version of the singer.
* Stan Walker reveals ‘life-changing’ battle with illness
* ‘Me too’: We were sexually assaulted
Despite years of physical abuse, Walker said he had now forgiven his father.
“I forgive my dad, I feel sorry for him. I love my dad.”
Ross Walker also spoke to Sunday and admitted that he had physically abused his family in the past.
“I was an angry man, but when I found the church it helped change my life.”
When Walker was eight years old and living in New South Wales, Australia, he was sexually abused almost daily by a teenage cousin.
“He abused me and groomed me for months,” Walker said.
Christel Yardley / Stuff
Stan Walker did not tell his parents about the sexual abuse for several years.
“Every day after school it happened. I tried to get someone to help me and they rejected me, so what do you do?
The sexual abuse left Walker feeling suicidal and as if it was somehow his fault. The first time he told other cousins what was happening, they laughed at him.
“The physical pain hurt, but the most confusing thing were the words he was saying to me. She told me not to give her away because she would get in trouble.
“I felt it was my fault. It was my fault that she was hiding and my fault that she was taking advantage of me. “
Walker eventually told his parents about the abuse as a teenager and his mother suggested that he should go to the police.
“I could not do it. I couldn’t get up in court in front of my parents and say what had happened to me. “
Walker decided to speak with Sunday journalist Tania Page because she wanted to help restore power to people who have been removed from power.
During his 29 years of life, Walker has faced many adversities.
In 2017, her stomach was removed due to cancer.
Walker carries the same rare cancer gene with his mother – an aggressive CDH1 inherited mutation found in more than 400 known families worldwide and in about 25 families in New Zealand.
Where to get help for sexual violence
-
Rape crisis 0800 88 33 00, click on the link for local help lines.
-
Support for victims 0800 842 846, text 4334, safetotalk.nz web chat or email [email protected].
-
Port Online information and support for people affected by sexual abuse.
-
Women’s shelter 0800733843 (female only)
-
Male survivors Aotearoa Helplines in New Zealand, click for more information (male only).
-
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 111.
