My mission

As a Christian, a registered nurse, an educator, a trustee for the charity Beam, a PhD researcher, and someone who has experienced  trauma, this project seeks to share what I have learnt, both professionally and personally, with the aim of supporting and encouraging other women in their post trauma journeys. What I have learnt about trauma has helped me in my post trauma journey and I hope it can also help others, both those who have experienced trauma and those who seek to support them. 

As part of the healing process, people who have experienced trauma need to be heard, and for that to happen they need a safe place to share their story. The church should be a safe place where anyone who has experienced trauma can find love and the ultimate healing that is only possible through God. After experiencing trauma, the world no longer seems like a safe place, and church may not seem like a safe place. Compassion for women seeks to demonstrate God's love for women who have experienced trauma by letting them know they are not alone, standing with them, providing support and encouragement for their journeys, and providing a safe space to be heard and valued, and ultimately receive healing from an all-powerful loving God.

Abuse should not happen, but it does

As a teenager, I had lived experience of sexual assault in my Christian faith community on more than one occasion. It makes me very sad to hear about sexual assault and sexual abuse in the church or faith communities. Sexual assault and sexual abuse should not occur in church or faith communities, but then where should it happen? Nowhere! Unfortunately, it can and does happen anywhere, everywhere, and churches and faith communities are no exception, because people are everywhere.  

I have set up ‘Compassion for women’ because if you are a women who has experienced sexual assault or sexual abuse, or any other kind of traumatic abuse, anywhere, but especially within the context of church or faith community, because that was my context, I want you to know that you are not alone, it hasn’t just happened to you, it’s not your fault and it’s not God’s fault either. 

What I believe

I believe in an all-powerful, almighty, loving God of justice and compassion. God made us all with free-will. We all make bad choices at times, all humans do. Some bad choices have more long-lasting and devastating impact for others. The assault or abuse you experienced was the perpetrators bad choice; the blame, shame and secrecy should be theirs, not yours and not God’s.