According to an article on Net Doctor, men from single-parent homes are more likely to have been sexually abused as children than those living in two parent families. A US report claims that almost 30% of men raised by a single parent told the researchers they had been sexually abused, compared with 16% living with two parent families.

The study found that even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors, children in single parent families had a higher overall risk of being sexually abused than children living in two parent homes. These findings clearly highlight the need for further support.

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Young girls are crying out for help – last year one in six calls to a 24 hour mental health helpline came from young girls considering suicide. Depression, eating disorders sexual abuse and bullying seemed to be some of the main problems affecting young girls – according to the article on the BBC website, rates of depression and anxiety have increased among young people in the UK by 70% in the last 25 years. That’s a huge percentage, and an extremely worrying one.

Joelle Leader, assistant director of ChildLine said “At the moment, there are simply not enough therapeutic services for children with these problems, and we are urging the government to give this issue urgent attention.”

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Sharon Wallace, an author from Devon, is a survivor of abuse – physical, mental and sexual. In an effort to help others who are still living through abuse today, she has written a book about her own perception of what happened to her when she was growing up.

“My aim for writing about my abuse and making it public is to hopefully allow others to read it and know that a road can be found to happiness and no matter what we have been made to endure through some one else’s crimes, there is a life after desolation” she says.

‘A House Full of Whispers’ is a true account of her harrowing childhood; “It’s the first in a trilogy and is an honest account of my life with the highs and lows. There is a path to redemption within my books for any who have walked a similar road, I was lucky to be able to stop the dysfunctional lineage, and my family, and children’s children, live a life all generations deserve”

Sharon admits to struggling to finish the book at times, reliving many distressing images. For many years she tried to self harm, believing she was “setting the poison within my body free”. Now 50, Sharon wants to let the world know what she endured as a child and hopes to help others facing what she did.

“Small voices that stand alone will one day reach each other and become an ocean of power, every wave starts as a ripple”.

Her book is available at Amazon. For more information also see her website: www.sharonwallace.co.uk