Newly elected Labour MP Natalie Fleet has bravely revealed how she was “groomed” at the age of 15.
In a harrowing GB News interview to be broadcast this Sunday (July 21), Ms Fleet says she still has “weekly nightmares” about what happened two decades on from the attack.
After being “groomed” at the age of 15, Ms Fleet fell pregnant - but says the daughter she gave birth to is now the “love of her life”.
Sitting down with GB News’ Gloria De Piero in an exclusive interview she explains that she’s decided to speak about what happened because the actions of her attacker - who told her to have an abortion - were “not ok”.
Natalie Fleet says she was groomed as a 15-year-old
GB News
Ms Fleet also fears many women are suffering and unable to get the support they need.
She said that’s why she plans to use her platform in Parliament to ensure her teenage experiences, which also saw her spent a period homeless, act as a catalyst for change.
Reflecting on what happened to her two decades ago, Ms Fleet, now a mother-of-four, said: “Today, 23 years later, I look back and I think, that wasn’t ok. That was an older man.
"I didn't know we were having unprotected sex. I was a child and this is statutory rape. At the time this isn't something that we were talking about. It's not how I saw myself. I still have weekly nightmares about it.
“I have a huge privilege and advantage to be in Parliament and I'm thrilled to be here. But what happened in my childhood still has a massive impact on me, which is why I'm so excited about what the next Labour government is going to do.
“At 15, you definitely think you're old enough to do all these things. I wanted to give my daughter the best life. But another thing that I can do now I'm in Parliament is I want to be a voice for all of those people, all of those women that have children in far from ideal circumstances.
“That’s why I wanted to talk about where my daughter came from and about what happened. It was really difficult for me to say to her, ‘I don't think this was entirely consensual, and I think I might have been groomed, and I don't think this is an appropriate relationship’.
"She took it really well. I Googled in advance for some tips, just a fact sheet or ‘how to deal with this’ and I found nothing.
“I found absolutely nothing. I found there were fact sheets about rape being used as a war crime. But there was nothing else. There's no acknowledgement that it happens in the UK.
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Natalie Fleet spoke to Gloria De Piero about her life
GB News
"And the more research I've done, I've found that there are over 3,000 conceptions every year from rape. But there's no charity to support those women.
“There's no help, advice, or support helpline that you can go to. No help on ‘how do I tell my child, that I love, that is everything to me, that this is where they came from?’
”Explaining why extra support in this area is so desperately needed she continued: “It is biologically very clear what happened to me because I was 15 years old, and he was older.
"I can prove where she came from, so that's statutory rape. But there are so many women that this happens too who don’t speak about it.
“They don’t not speak about it because they know they won’t be believed. And then even if by some miracle, we move to a society where women are believed, once you say this is your child, then that man can come and have access to that child.
“Even if you prove it's rape, that man can have access to that child and help bring it up. And that's absolutely terrifying. This is a perpetrator that has hurt the mother, who can then have access to the child.
“He told me to have an abortion at the time. He’s never met her. He never wanted anything to do with it. And he was very dismissive. He told me many times that he knew lots of ways that he wouldn't have to pay a penny towards her, because all his friends had already evaded the CSA.”
Describing the relationship she now has with her daughter, Ms Fleet said: “So she's 23 now and is the absolute love of my life. I am so proud of everything she is. I am thrilled. She makes me proud every single day.
"But at the time, when I was 15, I felt full of shame and guilt and responsibility. And all I was determined to do was make sure that she had a life that was as good as she would have had to any age parent. That was what I was determined to do.”
Outlining how she plans to use her role as an MP to push for change, she said: “I am a product of the last Labour government. It wasn't a perfect Government, but it changed my life and it was transformational. When I was younger, things were tough and I had a Labour government.
Natalie Fleet was sworn in as the MP for Bolsover
BBC
“When we were homeless, the Labour government made sure that there was enough housing stock for us to be rehoused.
"And then when I had my first child at a very young age, I could send her to a Sure Start nursery. I could carry on, go to university with a first in the family scholarship.
“I could work in a minimum wage job. I could send my children because I'd got two by then, to a Sure Start nursery, and it just felt like I needed the support of the state. And my God, I got it.
“And, before I became an MP, I worked for a trade union and I was absolutely desperate to give back to my teachers. My teachers had invested in me.
"The Labour government made sure that my teachers had time to teach me and look after me, and I then saw that I was paying taxes and they weren't being invested in young children like me or teachers. That’s why we needed a new Government.
“On my estate, the estate where we were rehoused, I looked around and people struggled. And I see now there are people that I was close to when I was younger who are now suffering with addiction and poverty scars.
“What poverty has done to me has meant that I work and work and work and work and work. If somebody knocks on my door, I won't answer it because I'm still scared it's the bailiffs.
"That’s what happens to you in your childhood, it stays with you. In areas of Bolsover it's absolutely heart-breaking.
“But I could either be angry about what's happened over the past 14 years, sad and feel powerless, or I could come into Parliament and try and do something about it. I mean, what an honour.”
