GK Barry wants people to be able to talk about rape
Loose Women star GK Barry recently revealed she was raped as a teenager, and she wants to encourage people to be open about their own experiences.
GK Barry wants to encourage people to talk about sexual assault.
The 27-year-old star, whose real first name is Grace, recently bravely opened up about being raped when she was 17, and she has written about the horrific ordeal in her new book It's Giving Life.
Speaking to new! magazine, she said: "I haven't put it in just for the sake of it, it took a lot for me to even speak about it.
"I wish I knew that you can say no, that rape can happen whether it's someone you're friends with, or close to, or a boss, that it comes in many forms.
"I don't think we should be ashamed about it. I think we should talk about it."
Grace explained that she has laid out "every last bit of personal trauma" on the page, and she's a little apprehensive about how honest she's been.
She added: "There's a lot of things in there that I'm a bit nervous to share."
While the Loose Women star's mother Loretta has been warned about Grace's experience with sexual assault, there are more lighthearted stories in the book which will be a real shock.
She said: "My mum's read the first couple of pages, but she has no idea what's coming. She doesn't know some of these stories - some are quite crude!
"I think maybe I won't be able to look my mum and dad in the eye for a couple of months."
Grace is hoping readers will be about to take some lessons from her past.
She added: "The majority of it is just hilarious stuff that has happened to me. I think people reading it can maybe learn from everything I've done wrong."
Grace recently revealed she was in her second year at college when she went on a week's work experience and the older man she was reporting to was initially friendly and offered her a lift to the premises, but things took a dark turn when he instead drove them to a deserted park and demanded oral sex.
Grace continued with the placement because it felt like a "make or break" moment after failing her GCSEs but on the last day, after the other staff had left, the unnamed man locked her in a room and raped her - but she "blamed herself".
She is quoted by The Sun newspaper as saying: "Rape. It’s taken me 10 years to realise that’s what it was. I know now he had a position of power.
"He was significantly older than me. I have come to terms with the fact it was really f***** up, and he shouldn’t have done it."
