Scotland’s most southerly point has been reached by Vaike Kukk, who is cycling the nation to increase awareness of the effects of child sexual abuse.
NWSE_EST is a cycling project to support adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and has direct link to the safeguarding issues related to working with children and young people.
As a child sexual assault survivor, Vaike has made taken on an enormous challenge to help spread awareness and make sure that no other child experiences what she did.
The Mull of Galloway marks an important landmark for Vaike as she has now reached all the UK’s most southerly points.
“The people in the photo just happened to be there this time and it felt really special to have someone there to share my experience. They were genuinely happy for me and wondered if I would need something to eat or something else. They saw me attaching extra reflectors on myself and chatted whilst I was getting ready. “Stay safe!” wishes that I have been picking up from the roadside have a very special meaning for me and now I could add some more to my mosaic of special moments.”
Vaike told DGWGO “Through my personal traumatic experience in 2019 I learnt that Safeguarding training is missing a vital element of managing the situation of witnessing sexualised behaviour safely and sensitively for all parties involved (the person behaving inappropriately, other possible witnesses, staff members).”
“Access to this kind of training is dependent on every single headteacher’s opinion of the necessity and in my case, it was denied. Therefore I am campaigning for this element to be added to compulsory Level 1 Safeguarding training, to ensure the awareness of all staff
working with children and young people. By keeping young people safe now we will have fewer survivors tomorrow…”
“I am also drawing attention to the difficulties that survivors of CSA experience with an aim to support communication with them and to enable survivors to be more engaged in society. It is necessary to notice the resilience, ‘out of the box’ thinking skills and creativity of the survivors, as they had to find a way to cope with trauma, being children themselves. Yet, they are carrying the secret inside that is isolating them even when being surrounded by crowds.”
“If you were walking on a high street of a city, then every 7th adult coming towards you would be a statistical survivor of CSA, regardless of their gender. They are someone’s family members, friends, colleagues…”
“We all have met survivors but we just may not be aware of who they are, as there is a ‘wall of fear’ on both sides. Therefore, when meeting with a survivor, there is no need to feel uneasy, the best response would be to ask whether there is anything that you need to know to be able to support them at the moment of difficulty.”
“In 2020 I cycled in all four parts of the UK separately from North to West, East and South, 2700 miles in total. By adding this year’s journey that joins all Southernmost points and will end in Cape Wrath in Scotland, the total mileage will be 3939. This is also the number on my ‘Pound per mile’ challenge on gofundme page, as I am aiming to raise funds to share the knowledge and experiences of the authors of the book “Breaking Free. Help for the Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse” in another language.”
