CSA Survivor UK

The Silence Ends

I’m Matt Penn — a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, a person in long-term recovery, and now an author and speaker using lived experience to say the things most people avoid. For years I carried it in silence, and it didn’t stay in the past, it showed up in my thoughts, my behaviour, my addiction, and the way I saw myself.

Recovery hasn’t been clean or easy, but it’s been real, and that’s what I bring into every talk and every piece of work I do. I speak to start honest conversations, challenge stigma, and give people a language for what they’ve been carrying, whether that’s survivors, families, or professionals. If you’re here, you’re in the right place.

This Is Where It Started

This book isn’t polished. It’s not pretty.

It’s what really happened.

Recovery Is Possible: An Addict’s Story is my story of addiction, trauma, and everything that came with it — the chaos, the guilt, the anger, and the moments I nearly didn’t make it through.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, broken, or like no one gets it… this is for you.

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Giving a voice to survivors

A lot of men don’t talk about what happened to them.

So it shows up in other ways — in addiction, in anger, in silence.

The link between trauma and how we cope is real. It just isn’t spoken about enough.

Work With Me

I don’t just talk about what happened — I talk about what it does to you, and what it takes to deal with it.

I speak to groups, services, and organisations about childhood trauma, addiction, and recovery — not from theory, but from lived experience.

No scripts. No sugar-coating. Just real conversations that people actually remember.

Whether it’s a small group or a room full of professionals, I aim to leave people thinking differently about trauma, silence, and what recovery really looks like.

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This is why I speak

I stayed silent for years, and it nearly cost me everything. Speaking up didn’t fix it overnight, but it changed the direction of my life.

Now I use my voice for the people who don’t have theirs yet — the ones still carrying it, still trying to make sense of it, still thinking they’re on their own.

If something here has resonated with you, don’t leave it there. Reach out, start the conversation, or take the next step.

Silence keeps things stuck. Speaking is where things start to shift.