Book description
Four-year-old Lisa's world turned upside down when her step-father
moved in. Most of the time he was just violent but then he started
making her do things to him she knew were wrong. Soon he was visiting
her at night. Lisa begged her mother for help but she just shrugged,
telling Lisa he would have his way. It was the greatest betrayal of all.
At first Lisa's step-father would just make her stroke and massage his
feet, hitting her if she stopped, but he soon wanted more. Much more. By
the time she was 12 he was regularly abusing her. One day, when Lisa
turned 16, she came home to discover that her mother had swapped
bedrooms with her. 'You're my girlfriend now', her step-father told her.
Lisa turned to her mother for help, but was met with a shrug. She
wouldn't hear a word against her husband. 'Don't blame me,' she said.
Her step-father's abuse was horrific but what completely tore her apart
was knowing her mother knew and encouraged it.
Trapped and increasingly desperate, Lisa tried to find a way out. But
her isolation was complete. A few months later her mother told her she'd
arranged for Lisa and her step-father to move into a flat together down
the road. It was too much for Lisa to bear. 'Please don't make me,
please,' she sobbed. But her mother just ignored her. Lisa was marched
around to the flat with her possessions and her nightmare was complete.
Alone with her step-father, Lisa's life became even more unbearable.
Then one day, finally, she got the chance she'd been looking for to
escape. Lisa bravely struck out on her own, petrified her mother would
find her and hand her back into the waiting arms of her step-father. But
Lisa's mother had no idea how determined she was to break away… 'Truly
remarkable … Lisa's courage is an inspiration to us all.' Shy Keenan and
Sara Payne
'Her mother was no mother at all. In the face of the ultimate betrayal,
Lisa somehow found the strength to rescue herself. Her plight inspired
us to fight for a change in the law and her courage inspires victims
everyday to speak out. She is and always will be a true Phoenix Hero.'
Shy Keenan & Sara Payne MBE Lisa James is married and lives with
her husband and six children in the south-west of England. In 2005 she
reported her step-father to the police and three years later, when the
case came to court, he was convicted.
