Anonymous

Here you will find first-person articles giving a range of different perspectives from various authors who all have first-hand experience of the subject they're writing about.

At 14, I was blackmailed into sending indecent images to an older man

It became an endless cycle of trying to keep him happy.

I thought our first date was going well – until he started laughing

The incident made me feel truly sad, and put me off meeting guys in the future.

He asked me to marry him and I said yes – then he told me about the baby

‘Do you know what you mean to me? Everything. But I need to tell you something,’ Tom said minutes after he popped the question.

My mum supports victims of domestic abuse – but she has a dark secret

I saw her as an enabler to my dad’s behaviour. I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t just leave.

My child was suspended from school 17 times by the time he was six

By the time Jayden was nine years old, he was onto his fifth school.

I wanted help from police – I was groomed by an officer instead

I later found out that I wasn’t the only vulnerable woman he had been having an inappropriate relationship with.

The scar on my arm is a reminder of my mother’s cruelty

It never occurred to me how much her emotional abuse was piling on me.

Born and raised in the UK, I thought I was a citizen – now I might be deported

In my mind, I am – and always have been – British. There is nowhere else I know as home and I have never lived in any other country.

I’m a ‘splosher’ and spend £100 a week on custard videos

I always choose premium brands of custard – I don’t want to offend anyone by suggesting they’re only worth less. Only the best will do.

I thought my dad was my abuser but I realised it was my mum too

This toxic cycle would end with my son and I.

Nan got revenge on her ungrateful grandkids from beyond the grave

‘Do what’s right for you,’ was all I said. The following week, it was done.

I’m desperate to tell my estranged daughter my side of the divorce story

‘If you take Mum to court, I’ll never speak to you again,’ my teen daughter said.

He told me I was perfect so I never noticed he was ‘spiderwebbing’

Part of me knew that this behaviour was wrong and harmful, but the other part of me loved him and was afraid of being alone.

He told me I was perfect so I never noticed he was ‘spiderwebbing’

Part of me knew that this behaviour was wrong and harmful, but the other part of me loved him and was afraid of being alone.

One conversation made me realise my stepbrothers would never love me

I’d never done anything to my brothers except love them.

My brother made me play ‘naughty exercises’ – I didn’t realise it was abuse

I can vividly recall specific smells, tastes, sounds and the strain of physical exertion.

My wife inherited £20,000 from her dad’s death. We’ve never been poorer

I told the DWP and they suddenly stopped my Universal Credit payments.

Mum’s funeral was painful, but my sisters’ cruelty hurt the most

Every time I’ve started to think about Mum passing away, I’ve felt so angry that I haven’t been able to cry.

I was sexually abused as a child, then police used me as bait to catch the predator

All I could think was, where was the police officer?

All my childhood memories revolve around my mum abusing me

I’d reached a point where I felt ill and suicidal around my family.

Teachers like me are crumbling right now – and so are our classrooms

I love my job but it's becoming a nightmare.

I locked eyes with a man on the Tube and he asked a question that changed everything

I couldn’t help but look at him occasionally as he read the newspaper.

I wasn’t allowed to go to my dad’s funeral just because I’m a woman

While it was made known my children and my partner – their mother – were welcome to attend. I, however, was not.

I can’t get my ambulance to dying people because of time wasters

If I come to you and you tell me you've got 10/10 back pain but haven't taken any pain relief – I'm sorry, I might screw my face up.

I ignored my sister for 26 years until I discovered her secret

Last autumn, my mother phoned me up, saying she had something difficult to tell me about my younger sibling.