Keeley Brennan - Author & Blogger

The Impact Of Grooming On The Brain - Keeley Brennan We’ve already discussed in previous blog posts what grooming looks like and how challenging it is to identify.

Read more in my latest blog post: The Impact of Grooming on The Brain 👉 buff.ly/1xfqOe9

As a result, your memories of the abuse may be stored in a way that minimises its impact, or you may even believe that the abusive behaviour was a form of friendship, affection or love.

Did you know that when you are groomed, your brain can become conditioned to associate the perpetrator’s behaviour with positive feelings, making it difficult for you to recognise the abuse for what it truly is.

On your 18th birthday, you don’t suddenly gain the wisdom of adulthood.

But society expects you to cope alone anyway.

Grooming isn’t random.

It’s calculated manipulation for someone's gain.

Often, with devastating, lifelong consequences for the victim.

Groomers can often target multiple children at the same time to see which one(s) they'll be able to abuse.

If you were targeted by a groomer; it's likely that you weren't the only one.

Words that are often used to describe groomers:

✅ Charming

✅ Likeable

✅ Nice

✅ Helpful

✅ Pillar of the community

Without this 'good-person' image, they wouldn't be able to go undetected.

The NSPCC estimate that there are over 150 different online apps used to groom children.

And new ones are popping up all of the time.

DBS checks can only flag known offenders.

They can’t alert you to abusers who haven’t been caught.

The DBS system is a tool.

It's not foolproof.

Groomers often target 16–17-year-olds specifically because they're over the age of consent but below full legal majority.

And this group of individuals being targeted is overwhelmingly female.

Research tells us that between 30–40% of child sex abusers use grooming behaviours to coerce their victims.

I would argue that the actual statistics is much, much higher than that.

How Sexual Assault And Trauma Affects Human Memory - Keeley Brennan Human memory is a complex and multifaceted process. In this post, we explore the impact that sexual assault has on memory.

Traumatic memories from sexual assault are rarely recalled in sequence and can often leave you in a constant state of alert.

If you want to know more about why traumatic memories often come to you in fragments, check out the latest blog post 👉 keeleybrennan.com/how-sexual-a...

If you want real talk about raising awareness of violence against women and girls, this might be an account that you want to follow.

This is your reminder that you don't need to forgive and you don't need to forget.

It's when you sit through a presentation about s*xual abuse and you realise they could be talking about the person who abused you that you realise the enomity and severity of what you experienced.

That it wasn't normal.

And it definitely wasn't ok.

If you’re fed up of society turning a blind eye, the mission of this account is to keep the spotlight on violence against women and girls.

I'd love you to hit 'follow' and join the community.

Sometimes you need to hear someone describe and name what you experienced for you to realise that you went through hell...and it wasn't your fault.

16-24 year old women are more likely to be victims of sexual violence than any other age group.

Yet they will likely hear:

👉 You should have known better
👉 Your skirt was too short
👉 You were drunk
👉 You were leading him on
👉 You invited him back to your room

We need to flip the script.

In the UK, there has been a 37% increase in VAWG-related (violence against women) crimes in the last 6 years.

Whether this is to do with an increase in the crime or an increase in reporting is somewhat irrelevant.

Because these crimes shouldn't be happening in the first place.

67,928 rapes were reported in the UK in 2023-2024.

That means that statistically speaking, every year, over 66,500 victims of sexual assault will never see justice be served.

And these statistics are only for rape; they don’t cover other sexual assaults.

Only 1.3-1.6% of reported rapes result in a charge or summons.

Think about that next time you ask one of the 83% of women who didn't report a rape or sexual assault to the police why they didn't.

It's because they know that they're unlikely to ever see a conviction.

25 Sexist Comments Women Still Hear Today (And How To Call Them Out) - Keeley Brennan Learn what misogyny is, how it shows up in everyday remarks, and read 25 examples of misogynistic and sexist comments women regularly hear, plus tips on how to respond.

25 Sexist Comments Women Still Hear Today (And How to Call Them Out)

New blog post 👉 keeleybrennan.com/25-sexist-co...

I'm up to chapter 8 of this incredible book by #CharlotteProudman right now and one thing has really stuck out to me:

Of the multiple women's stories of VAWG included, not one of the men has been convicted for being an abuser.

None.

They're still out there, hiding in plain sight.

Sertraline: What It Is, Side Effects, Coming Off It, And Being Used As A Defence To VAWG - Keeley Brennan Learn what sertraline is, its side effects, withdrawal symptoms, and shocking ways it’s been used in defence of violence against women.

When a medication used for PTSD in victims of VAWG is being used by men to excuse their actions.

Latest blog post 👉 keeleybrennan.com/sertraline-w...

Parental Control Apps: Why Qustodio, Bark, Net Nanny And Family Link Might Not Be The Solution - Keeley Brennan A deep dive into the ethical issues behind using paid and free parental control apps, including Qustodio, Bark, Net Nanny, and Google Family Link.

As someone who was groomed online, I still don't believe that parental control apps are the solution 👉 keeleybrennan.com/parental-con...

What incredible roles!!

The same companies that are funding parental control apps to promote internet safety are the same companies that are funding platforms where child ab*se is taking place.

Let that sink in.

And I'd love to know your thoughts; does it surprise you that there isn't a single definition of sexual grooming?

Inconsistent definitions of sexual grooming create confusion for victims, professionals, and even law enforcement.

Ask five different people to define it, and you’ll likely get five different answers.

We can’t even agree on a definition of sexual grooming within the same country, let alone globally.

It appears that the very term of ‘grooming’ is just as manipulative as the perpetrators who conduct these behaviours. It doesn’t seem to want to be pinned down and ousted as one thing or another.