Staring at her phone, Sammy Woodhouse felt her blood freeze as yet another death threat filtered through - this time aimed at her son. Shockingly, eight years after she blew the whistle on the Rotherham paedophile ring that groomed and raped her from the age of 14, the threats are still very real today. In the years that she was abused by Arshid Hussain, then 24, she was raped and beaten, forced to have an abortion. Ignored by the authorities, Sammy took her story to a national newspaper in 2013. But even after more victims came forward, and Hussain was jailed for 35 years for child grooming in 2015. Shortly after Sammy’s 14th birthday, in 1999, Hussain approached Sammy and a friend, who already knew him, and offered to take them for a spin in his sporty silver Astra. “I would go on to be groomed, abused, raped, criminalised and sexually exploited for several years,” Sammy said.
“I never saw myself as a victim of grooming or abuse.He was my boyfriend. I was his sex doll. There to have sex whenever he wanted. Out of all the things that he did, it was the grooming that has been the most harmful for me. It’s something that haunts me today and I think it will for the rest of my life. On multiple occasions, I tried to end my life.Thankfully none of that worked.” she added.
Sammy began a campaign with MP Louise Haigh which resulted in the publication of the Harm Report, which recommended changes in the way family courts approach allegations of domestic abuse in childcare battles. While she’s considered giving up the campaigns, in the face of threats, Sammy has vowed to carry on fighting.
