ABOUT US
We train your allies so you don’t have to.
When you’ve been sexually harmed as a kid, the last thing you need is to advocate for your own support.
We give people approachable advice on how to talk about childhood sexual harm with 'Serious Joy'. We do this through using design, digital media and film to make events, content and workshops that make this topic accessible and inclusive.
We provide digital resources, film clubs, workshops and podcasts to people and consultancy and training for organisations.
We are particularly interested in looking at how childhood sexual harm experiences differ with different identities, like being queer, Black, transgender, Vietnamese, male, a refugee etc. We also look at different types of abuse from different people, like online abuse, contact abuse and children and women who sexually abuse.
Who doesn’t love being entertained?! An element of film, design, media and popular culture is woven into all of our work to feel more relatable and easier to discuss.
How we do things around here
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Serious Joy
Talking about CSA is hard. We do it anyway, with laughter, warmth, and zero shame.
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You’re the expert
Your experience is yours. No training or credentials required to know what you lived through.
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No proof needed
You don’t have to recount what happened to be believed here. You share what you want, nothing more.
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We don’t compare
Every experience of abuse is horrific in its own right. There is no scale here, no hierarchy of pain.
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Context matters
What works for one person or community won’t always work for another. We meet you where you are.
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Timing’s personal
There’s no right time to talk about what happened to you. Whenever you’re ready, we’re here.
Explore our work
A hub for all our podcasts, articles and projects
Witness our ‘serious joy’ in person
Survivor stories and advice, without the trauma porn
Apply our ‘serious joy’ at your organisation
OUR TEAM
Our entire team works part time, as is the nature of funding for this work! These are the people who are working with us regularly to make sure that Secrets runs smoothly on an everyday basis.
Sophia Lưu
she/her
Founder/Director
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Sophia is a Vietnamese-British designer and founder of Secrets Worth Sharing. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse herself, she developed a trauma-informed research methodology called ‘Serious Joy’ when talking about taboo topics, and is CPD certified in Improving Practices in Childhood Sexual Abuse by the Centre of Expertise on Childhood Sexual Abuse. In 2024 alongside the NGO The Brave Movement, she represented the UK on the Survivor Council for the first ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Childhood Violence (WHO/UNICEF). She is a Steering Committee Member of To Zero, a global NGO advocating for better connectivity in the sexual violence sector, and the co-chair of the React Network, a network of professionals of colour working in the childhood sexual abuse sector.
Laura Clarke
she/they
Project Manager
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Laura is a sex & gender specialist and writer with a deep passion for making difficult topics easier to discuss. She is an accredited sex educator who delivers workshops to young people and professionals on any and all things relating to sex, relationships, gender and bodies — visiting schools and organisations all across the country. She is also the author of Step Bi Step: The Ultimate Guide for Bisexual, Pansexual & Queer Young People — the first bi+ handbook specifically written for teenagers. Her sex & relationships advice has been featured in Cosmopolitan, GRAZIA, Mashable, Gay Times and more. Laura works with Secrets Worth Sharing in a project manager position, where she can fully indulge her love of spreadsheets and colour coding.
Our board members all volunteer their time to support us with our strategic direction, as well as mentoring us with their unique skills and lived experience.
Chioma Alade
she/her
Board Member
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Chioma Alade is a Practice Lead, Activist, Speaker, Writer, Researcher and Survivor committed to raising awareness about the complexities of sexual abuse. Her work addresses the urgent need to shorten the time it takes for victims to come forward, receive support, and for predators to be identified. Alade made history as the first NUS Black student representative elected to a Student Union in the South West of England. She is a member of the React Network at the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, funded by the Home Office and hosted by Barnardo’s. In 2025, she was selected for Practice Lead training hosted by the Centre of Expertise in Child Sexual Abuse and funded by the Home Office, leading to her launching ByFourteen in 2026. Chioma looks forward to serving everyone at Secrets worth Sharing and is always up for a slice of cake.
Ana Williams
she/her
Board Member
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Ana Williams is a business consultant and founder of Talli House, a design-led countryside retreat rooted in slow living and emotional wellbeing. With a background in leadership, operations, and brand development, including her role as former COO of The GelBottle Inc., she works closely with founders to bring clarity, structure, and direction to growing businesses. At Secrets Worth Sharing, she brings both lived experience and a strategic lens to support the development of accessible, thoughtful ways to engage wider audiences in conversations around childhood sexual abuse.
Nicolas Makharashvili
he/him
Board Member
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Nicolas Makharashvili is Director of the Safe Futures Hub, a multi-agency initiative co-led by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Together for Girls, and WeProtect Global Alliance. He has over 15 years of experience bridging research, policy, and practice to strengthen evidence and scale solutions to prevent child sexual violence. Nicolas leads cross-sector partnerships that translate evidence into action across diverse contexts. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Health at the City University of New York and holds an MPA from Baruch College.
Dr Anuja Suntharamoorthy
she/her
Board Member
Raf Galdeano
they/them
Board Member
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Raf (they/them) is a Brighton-based disabled, trans and queer survivor of gender based violence and childhood sexual abuse. They are an artist, (un)professional ponderer and nature enthusiast whose passion lies in transformational justice and survivor-led politics. To follow more of Raf's work they have a substack which you can find here.
Our Podcast Co-Hosts
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Soniah
she/they
‘CSA & Repeated Behaviours’ Podcast Co-host, Operations Manager
Soniah was born in St Lucia and now lives in the United States, working as an operations manager. In her free time, she enjoys sharing stories with strangers encountered on many solo adventures.
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Davy Lazare
he/him
‘CSA & Black Men’ Podcast Co-host, - Filmmaker and Spoken Word Poet
Davy is an award-winning filmmaker and spoken word poet. He's run workshops in filmmaking for serving prisoners and his short film 'You Fit The Description' has won three awards, including BAFTA Qualifying British Urban Film Festival.
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Chelsea Peach
she/her
‘CSA & Safe Sex Work’ Podcast Co-host, Full Service Sex Worker
A full service sex worker, content creator and podcaster with a passion for destigmatising all things sex work. Chelsey is an advocate for sex workers rights and full decriminalisation, as we all deserve access to safe working conditions and workers rights.
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Chioma Alade
she/her
‘CSA & Christianity’ Podcast Co-host, Pastor
Chioma, a British Nigerian, endured childhood physical and sexual abuse in her home and church environment. Despite this, she's spent over two decades serving in church settings, witnessing its strengths and shortcomings in safeguarding and accountability.
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Jonny Pelham
he/him
‘CSA & Comedy’ Podcast Co-host, Stand-Up Comedian
Jonny is a British stand-up comedian and writer. In 2019, he wrote an Edinburgh Fringe stand-up show, about his childhood sexual abuse, called Off Limits. He went on to deliver this at Live at the Apollo and then host a Channel 4 documentary about abuse.
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Michael Luu-Tigchelaar
he/him
‘Vietnamese language’ Podcast Co-host, Sophia’s Husband
Michael or Tig, as most people call him, is Sophia's husband, a freelance numismatist and writer. He has been dating Sophia since 2015. They live together in Brighton.
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Rachel An Vu
she/her
‘Vietnamese language’ Podcast Co-host, Existential Psychotherapist
Rachel is a bilingual psychotherapist in English and Vietnamese. Her expertise includes working with clients who experienced child abuse, sexual abuse, and clients who have been trafficked or suffered mordern slavery. Rachel's passion is helping clients explore life’s challenges and discover deeper understanding of who they are and their way of being in the world.
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Dr Anuja Suntharamoorthy
she/her
‘Cultural Sensitivity’ Podcast Co-host, CAMHS psychiatrist and ANBU director
Anuja is a registered CAMHS psychiatrist and former director of ANBU UK, a Tamil charity supporting adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. She was also previously the chair of the Board of Trustees for Rape Crisis South London (RASASC).
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Sabian Muhammad
he/him
‘Deafness’ Podcast Co-host, Managing Director DeafHandz
Sabian is a motivational speaker, mentor, deaf content creator (@theuberhuman) and founder of DeafHandz, a for-profit Deaf Culture & Innovation consultancy.
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Wren Knight
she/her
‘Institutions’ Podcast Co-host, Human Rights Lawyer
Wren (she/her) is a human rights lawyer and founder of a charity supporting survivors of childhood sexual abuse. As an adult, she successfully issued proceedings against her secondary school for not reporting her abuser.
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Dr Ray O’Neill
he/him
‘Queerness’ Podcast Co-host, Psychotherapy Professor
Ray is Assistant Professor in Psychotherapy with DCU's School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health and a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in private practice working mainly, within the LGBTQ community and survivors of sexual abuse.
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Jeremy Indika
he/him
‘Disclosing’ Podcast Co-host, Founder of Something to Say
Jeremy is an online content creator, survivors and motivational speaker around childhood sexual abuse. He is also the founder of 'Something to Say' platform.
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Andrew Asibong
he/him
Film Club Co-Host 2024-2025
Andrew Asibong is an intercultural psychotherapist in Brighton, specialising in developmental and early relational trauma. For many years he lectured in film and psychoanalytic studies at Birkbeck, University of London, where he also ran the Fruitvale Film Club, for survivors of state violence and racialised trauma.
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Raf Galdeano
they/them
‘Trans Identities ‘ Podcast Co-host, Queer/Sexual Violence Charity Worker
Raf is a Brighton-based disabled, trans and queer survivor of gender based violence and childhood sexual abuse. They are an artist, (un)professional ponderer and nature enthusiast whose passion lies in transformational justice and survivor-led politics. To follow more of Raf's work they have a substack which you can find here. -
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Charu Hogg
she/her
‘Childhood Sexual Harm in War and Conflict’ Podcast cohost, Founder of All Survivors Project
Charu is the Founder and Executive Director of All Survivors Project, a charity and research initiative supporting global efforts to eradicate conflict-related sexual violence.
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Sean Coughlan
he/him
‘Working in the Sector’ Podcast Co-host, Director of To Zero
Sean is the Director of To Zero, an organisation working towards a future free from childhood sexual violence, where children and adolescents can thrive and live safe and healthy lives.es here
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Patrick Sandford
he/him
‘Older People’ Podcast Cohost, Theatre Director & Advocate
Patrick (he/him) is a professional theatre director and his play, also a film, GROOMED, won three awards at the Brighton Fringe. Patrick is a committed advocate for both male and female survivors, independently and through the Brave Movement.
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Janelle Rabe
she/her
‘Research with Young People’ Podcast Cohost, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Janelle (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Durham University. She is leading the development and evaluation of a training course on participatory research with neurodivergent young people.
Special thanks
Many wonderful people* have given their time, mentorship and stories to make our platform possible
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Branding & Web Design
Love Child Studio
Logo Design & Site Illustration
Lily Yuet Kong -
Before becoming what it is, Secrets was a podcast of 6 episodes. Many thanks to those who volunteered their time and expertise to check the tone and consistency of the episodes pre-release:
Mireille Harper
Ruby Kwong
Ishwari Bhalerao
Jack Mason - Website copy review
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Crew for Season 1 & 2
Quyen Nguyen – Camera, Sound and Post-production
Jeremie Moludi – Camera and Sound
Cassandra Vida – Runner and Sound
Safiya Ahmed – Runner
Michael Tigchelaar – Runner
Ali Gill – Post-Production Producer and editing support
Vuong Ngo – Standby Mental Health support for all shoots
Aliya Akram – Reels design
Roxy van der Post - Photographer
Tom Eames - Camera, sound and Editing
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Special thanks to Safiya Ahmed and Dr Lyndsay McLean for volunteering to support us as directors and mentors in the early days, before we’d incorporated.
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Many thanks to our translators for doing the transcriptions for our Vietnamese Language and Culture episode:
Minh Huynh (Viet-English)
Mai Phuong (English- Viet)
Binh Vu (webisode)
Quang Anh and Spence from WEDOGOOD (Viet-English)
Dr Rose Hong Ha Bui - Translation Volunteer for website
Gia Nguyen - Translation support for Vietnamese introduction video
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Thank you to The Foundry, Hove, for partnering with us for our office via their ambassador programme.
Special thanks to Laura and Trey at X & Why Whitechapel for volunteering their venue for Season 1 of filming.
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To our friends, lovers, ex-lovers and chosen family. You know who you are. And we hope you know that this would not exist without you modelling absolute allyship and care. We all learned together so others won’t have to.
*Note: Due to the social stigma and silence associated with child sexual abuse, some people who contributed to this series have either used an alias or chosen to not include their names in this list.
Partners & Funders
