In a devastating new interview with journalist Patrick Strudiwck, formerly LGBTQ+ editor at BuzzFeed, 49-year-old women’s refuge worker Angela Paterson (AJ to her pals) has told The i her truly harrowing tale. 

The term ‘corrective rape’ is not a new phrase, in fact it was coined in South Africa in the early 00s to describe the brutal practise of sexually assaulting lesbians in order to ‘cure’ them. In Strudwick’s interview with Paterson, she talks about a practise all too familiar and all too secret in the UK.

Of course there’s no need to tell you that it’s a horrifying and possibly triggering read but it’s necessary, not just for Paterson (who has since told Patrick that since telling him her story, her nightmares have stopped) but because of the vague nature of the ‘ban’ on conversion therapy currently going through parliament in the UK.

Paterson complained about what happened to her – 4 years of imprisonment and rape at the pastor’s house where his wife also resided in leafy West Sussex – to the Evangelical Alliance, the very body that is demanding the government makes exceptions for religious groups in the forthcoming conversion therapy bill. Astounding. What was their response to AJ’s complaint? Silence.

We applaud AJ Paterson’s bravery, and Patrick Strudwick’s journalism. Maybe the government will see that the conversion therapy ban must include ALL ‘cures’. Not except but ESPECIALLY of the religion kind. Read the full interview HERE.