My name is Debbie, and I created You Are Not Alone from my own lived experience of sexual assault and going through the criminal justice process.

Before this happened to me, I could never have understood how much an experience like this can change your life.

There is the trauma itself, but then there is everything that comes afterwards — reporting what happened, waiting for answers, preparing for court, giving evidence and trying to cope with the uncertainty in between.

What surprised me most was how lonely the process could feel.

Even when people are around you, there are moments when you simply want someone who understands what you are going through without having to explain everything.

And when court finishes, everyone else may see an ending.

For the survivor, it isn’t necessarily the end.

That is why I created You Are Not Alone.

I want to build the kind of support I wish had been beside me — somewhere warm, personal and easy to turn to before court, throughout the process and afterwards.

Not to replace counsellors, doctors, legal professionals or specialist services, but to fill some of the spaces in between.

A place where lived experience matters.

A place where you can say, “I’m struggling today,” without having to know exactly what kind of help you need.

A place that reminds you that what happened to you does not define the rest of your life.

If You Are Not Alone helps even one woman feel less frightened, less isolated or more understood, then it has started doing what I created it to do.

— Debbie

Founder, You Are Not Alone

You Are Not Alone is a project in development. It is not yet a registered charity, and it is not a counselling or crisis service.