I lost 2 decades of my life. That's not OK!

Sammy Woodhouse was just 14 when she consented to sex with a 24 year old Pakistani Man. That was the damning and irresponsible verdict of the government’s criminal injuries compensation authority.

Ms Woodhouse, who bravely waived her right to anonymity in order to help prosecute her attacker and two of his brothers who were part of gang that groomed and abused 50 girls, was abused by four men as a child.

The Oxford dictionary defines the age of consent as the age at which a persons consent to sexual intercourse is valid in law.

That age is of course 16. The law is quite clear. It does not allow for anomolies where the victim was persuaded, threatened, or beaten. It does not allow for exceptions when the attackers are not from this country, nor does it allow exceptions for cases where the victim is poor or vulnerable – it is clear, if the person is under 16, that person can NEVER give consent.

Prior to being groomed and abused Sammy was perfectly happy. She told me that she had lots of friends, was happy, confident and good at school. Life was great!

All that changed when she met her main attacker and three other men at her local shop. A lot of kids hung around there.

As with many victims of grooming she first thought she was the man’s girlfriend. At 16 though she recognised the violence and harassment and made a statement to police. It wasn’t until about 5 years ago that she fully came to terms with what had actually happened to her and gave herself the label of victim, not girlfriend.

When she went to the Police at 16 she had hoped they would help, although she knew that many of them were helping her attacker.

I asked her if she blamed the authorities for not protecting her and the dozens of other victims and she said “the people who are to blame are the men that abused me and the people who helped and were involved.”

For people like most of us, who have never experienced such vile actions would expect the police to take such matters seriously and act with the full force of the law to protect the children but that simply didn’t happen. When asked if she thinks the authorities that turned a blind eye should be prosecuted she told me “yes I do- there is a difference in someone raising the alarm and being ignored (I don’t blame them), to deliberately doing nothing.” she says that the blame should always start with the attackers “but in my case, they met him and helped him further, so they are also to blame.”

Sammy was let down repeatedly by people and organisations that should have protected her.

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion was forced to resign her shadow cabinet role after writing in a newspaper article that Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.

Ms Champion has said her comments were edited and stripped of nuance, but resigned from her position in Jeremy Corbyn’s team.

I asked Ms Woodhouse if she thought Champion was right to resign. She said “Sarah was very accurate and should not have stood down, she should have stood her ground.” she added “it’s important we don’t only talk about one race, but we do have to address it. Otherwise, victims voices will be lost.”

Some people have called for South Yorkshire Police to be disbanded since the scandal. I asked Sammy if she thought the force were fit for purpose. “No! They weren’t fit for purpose” she said, “a lot has changed but it’s no where near good enough. If the system was fit for purpose we wouldn’t have so many abused and failed children. The Government need to recognise and step in. The Police are over worked and under staffed and don’t understand grooming properly. There is a lot of work to do!”

Sammy Woodhouse has shown amazing strength courage and resilience to become one of the most prominent campaigners for victims of child abuse, making regular appearances on daytime TV, receiving huge support. She is championing Sammy's Law, a campaign to change the law to allow victims of grooming and abuse to have their criminal records expunged where they were directed to commit those crimes by their attackers. The campaign is being backed by several Police Chief’s, MP’s and child protection experts in a bid to minimise the impact on victims.

I asked Sammy where she found the strength to be a survivor and no longer a victim. She told me she had always been a person that didn’t like to sit around moping and feeling sorry for herself. She said “I also don't like to be seen as a victim as it always makes me feel weak. We have to get on with life. There’s only one person that can really change things in my life, and that is me. I want my legacy to be something my children are proud of. I want to be able to say when I look back at my life that I made a difference and helped others. I can say that now as before I couldn’t. To do this I had to accept help and support and not avoid it.”

On her campaign she says “Yes! Victims and survivors records should be quashed. We shouldn’t be blamed and criminalised for being abused, We need to take into consideration if those people are now a risk and still offending as some do. We need to look at people as individuals. I have started Sammy’s law asking for this to be put in place. The first step is common sense and people getting a fu##ing grip. IT’S NEVER A CHILD’S FAULT.!!!!!!”

I asked her if she believes children in Rotherham are still at risk from grooming gangs. She told me “of course children are still at risk. It will always happen, we have to prevent as much as possible and keep the awareness going. We will never stop it but we can prevent it. Things are much better in Rotherham but abuse happens everywhere not just here.”

Despite the torment that Sammy endured she appears to be coming out of the other side a proud, selfless, articulate woman who family and friends must be extremely proud of and an inspiration to the hundreds and thousands of victims out there still searching for justice.

My final question to to the remarkable Sammy Woodhouse was what her future aspirations are and whether she can have a normal life.

Her reply was “I want to prevent child abuse as much as possible and make national changes, I’d like to be part of knowing every child in the country is more safe”. Her parting comment was “Define normal! What happened will always remain with me but I’m determined to move forward from it and not let it hold me back. I’ve lost two decades of my life. My life is only starting now at the age of 32 – that’s not OK.”