MP who was raped praises law reforms for victims

"The MP, who grew up on a council estate in Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, said growing up, she believed her pregnancy was her fault. "I believed that I had done something wrong and never, ever saw myself as a child who was about to give birth to a child. "I was called a wide range of names and I believed them," she said."

"One woman told me about a perpetrator that said 'I will have parental responsibility for that child, it doesn't matter if I go to prison or not, I will make sure that I never leave you or the child alone', she said. Fleet added mothers had 'lived in fear' of their rapists 'interfering' in their children's lives, but that the amendments would 'end that fear'."

Natalie Fleet campaigned to amend the Victims and Courts Bill to restrict parental responsibility for convicted abusers. Fleet became pregnant at 15 after seeing an older man and said she grew up believing the pregnancy was her fault. Changes were tabled in Parliament to automatically restrict parental responsibility if a child is born as a result of rape, with the restriction applying to that specific child. Fleet said mothers had lived in fear of rapists interfering in their children’s lives and that the amendments could finally offer protection and encourage other women to come forward.

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