Madeleine West speaks about the traumatic impact of sexual abuse on her life

Neighbours actor Madeleine West has detailed how childhood sex abuse changed her as an adult. Listen to the podcast. Warning: GRAPHIC.

Actor Madeleine West has shed more light about how childhood sexual abuse “decimated” her life and led to destructive behaviour.

From hanging around “the bad boys” to being unable to kiss someone until she was 20, the former Neighbours and Underbelly said the assaults, that began when she was five, sent her life on a dangerous trajectory.

West, 42, told Andrew Rule’s Life and Crimes podcast the memory of the abuse was “etched on my soul with a scalpel”.

“This isn’t about being a hashtag Me Too movement, because this happens to everyone. It’s endemic,” she said.

Like many child sexual abuse survivors, she has done years of therapy that has helped her “unpack why some of our behaviours are what they are, why we are drawn to certain perilous situations”.

Madeleine West speaking with Andrew Rule.

The trauma and the inner turmoil is not always obvious to see, but West said it impacted every part of her life – her relationships, how she behaved and the decisions she made.

West is hosting new podcast, Predatory, which shines a light on child sexual abuse.

“It’s decimated so much of my life, that outwardly, I present as I’m a mum of six, to some degree successful, very outspoken. But there are so many points within my life where the decisions I’ve made, the relationships I’ve engaged with, how I’ve conducted myself professionally, are purely dictated by what happened to me when I was a child,” she told the podcast.

At university she studied law and wanted to help women and children sex crimes – but that didn’t do anything to help heal her.

Abuse survivors, she said, are left to navigate a world they feel worthless, and for children, they view it through traumatised eyes.

West said the abuse changed her life.

“It’s a hole inside you and you fill it with things. Whether it’s crime, drugs, perfectionism... I spent so much of my life seeking something that was stolen from me,” she said.

Acting provided her with an “escape” because it helped avoid letting people get too close to her.

“In some sense, escaping into other characters felt better than living in my own life felt safer than living in my own skin,” she said.

Despite Harvey Weinstein’s high-profile sex offence trial — and subsequent conviction — drawing attention to unsavoury practices going on within entertainment circles, West said no particular industry was worse than any other.

“It plays out in every industry, it plays out in every sector of society. That’s the reality … an industry like the entertainment industry is very visible, and there’s a platform to for people to speak out about their experiences,” she said.

“So it’s very easy to say all that would happen there. But it would never happen here – and that’s another mistake that we make.”

Predatory is also available at Crime X on Apple Podcasts.

For more details about the Predatory podcast, go to predatory.com.au

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Originally published as Madeleine West speaks about the traumatic impact of sexual abuse on her life