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Labour MP has ‘weekly nightmares’ as she bravely speaks about becoming a mother after being raped at 15

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Newly elected Labour MP Natalie Fleet has bravely revealed how she was raped at the age of 15.

In a harrowing interview with GB News to be broadcast this Sunday, July 21, Ms Fleet says she still has “weekly nightmares” about what happened, two decades after the attack.

After being raped, Mrs Fleet became pregnant, but the daughter she gave birth to is now “the love of her life”.

In an exclusive interview with Gloria De Piero of GB News, she explains that she decided to talk about what happened because the behavior of her attacker – who suggested she have an abortion – was “not okay.”

Natalie Fleet

Natalie Fleet says she was abused as a 15-year-old

UK News

Ms Fleet also fears that many women are suffering and are not getting the support they need.

That’s why she plans to use her platform in Parliament to use her experiences as a teenager – which included a period of homelessness – as a catalyst for change.

Reflecting on what happened to her two decades ago, Mrs Fleet, now a mother of four, said: “Today, 23 years later, I look back and think it was not OK. This was an older man.”

“I didn’t know we had unprotected sex. I was a child and it’s rape of a minor. We didn’t talk about it then. I didn’t see myself that way. I still have nightmares about it every week.

“I have the great privilege and advantage of being in Parliament and I am thrilled to be here. But what happened in my childhood still has a huge impact on me, which is why I am so excited to see what the next Labour government will 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 now that I am in Parliament, I can do something else: I want to give a voice to all these people, all these women who have children in less than ideal circumstances.

“So I wanted to talk about where my daughter came from and what happened. It was really difficult for me to say to her, ‘I don’t think this was completely consensual, and I think maybe I was raised this way, and I don’t think this is an appropriate relationship.’ She took it very well.

“I googled beforehand to get some tips, just an information sheet or ‘how do I deal with this’ and I didn’t find anything.

“I found absolutely nothing. I found that there were fact sheets about rape being used as a war crime. But there was nothing else. There is no confirmation that it happens in the UK.

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Natalie Fleet, Gloria De Piero

Natalie Fleet spoke to Gloria De Piero about her life

UK News

“And the more I researched, the more I realised that there are over 3,000 pregnancies from rape every year. But there is no charity to support these women.

“There is no help, advice or support hotline that you can turn to. No help with the question: ‘How do I tell my child that I love them, that they mean everything to me and that they come from here?'”

She further explained why additional support in this area is so urgently needed: “Biologically, it is perfectly clear what happened to me because I was 15 years old and he was older.

“I can prove where she came from, so it is rape of a minor. But there are so many women to whom this also happens and who don’t talk about it.

“They don’t dare talk about it because they know they won’t be believed. And even if by some miracle we achieve a society where women are believed, as soon as the man says this is his child, he can come and have access to that child.

“Even if you can prove it was rape, the man can have access to the child and help raise it. And that is absolutely terrifying. This is an abuser who has hurt the mother and now has access to the child.

“He told me at the time that I should have an abortion. He never met her. He never wanted anything to do with it. And he was very dismissive. He often told me that he knew many ways in which he would not have to pay her a cent because all his friends had already avoided the CSA.”

Speaking about her relationship with her daughter, Ms Fleet said: “She is 23 now and the absolute love of my life. I am so proud of everything she is. I am over the moon. She makes me proud every day.”

“But back then, when I was 15, I felt full of shame, guilt and responsibility. And I was determined to make sure she had as good a life as she would have had with parents of any age. That was what I was determined to do.”

She explained how she plans to use her role as an MP to drive change: “I am a product of the last Labour government. It wasn’t a perfect government, but it changed my life and was transformational. When I was younger, life was hard and I had a Labour government.”

Natalie Fleet is sworn in in the House of Commons

Natalie Fleet was sworn in as MP for Bolsover

BBC

“When we were homeless, the Labour government made sure there was enough housing for us to find new accommodation.

“And then when I had my first child at a very young age, I was able to send him to a Sure Start nursery. I was able to go on and go to university on a scholarship for the first in the family.

“I could work for the minimum wage. I could send my children to a Sure Start nursery because I had two by then. I just felt like I needed the support of the state. And my God, I got it.

“And before I became a member of parliament, I worked for a union and I really wanted to give something back to my teachers. My teachers had invested in me.

“The Labour government made sure my teachers had time to teach me and look after me. Then I saw that I was paying taxes and they were not being invested in young children like me or in teachers. That’s why we needed a new government.”

“I looked around my housing development where we were housed and people were struggling. And now I see that there are people I was close to when I was young who are now suffering from the scars of addiction and poverty.

“Poverty has made me work and work and work and work and work. When someone knocks on my door, I don’t open it because I’m still afraid it’s the bailiff.

“It happens to you in childhood, it stays with you. In some parts of Bolsover it is absolutely heartbreaking.”

“But I could either be angry about what has happened over the last 14 years, sad and powerless, or I could come to Parliament and try to do something about it. I mean, what an honour.”

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