Young people are falling through the cracks when it comes to sexual abuse and it’s killing them

Gaia Pope was just a teenager when she died. A ‘loving and intelligent’ girl, the 19-year-old enjoyed painting and drawing, and was described by friends as someone who ‘hated injustice’.

Gaia was also just a teenager when she was raped, groomed, and assaulted. Then 16, she became a victim of a huge injustice herself after local authorities missed more than 50 opportunities to support her.

Instead, the young woman left her aunt’s home in Swanage on November 7, 2017, and vanished without a trace after calling her twin sister.