The "forgotten victims" of child abuse - the mothers of young people involved - are being urged to make contact with a new charity.

Mosaic, which stands for Mothers of Sexually Abused in Control, is a Bradford-based group covering the whole of the West Yorkshire area.

The charity, run from the NSPCC offices in Little Horton Lane, has grown out of a self-help group set up by support worker Linda Colclough.

In its first two and a half years it has already helped 60 mothers come to terms with their feelings of shock, guilt and despair on finding out their child has suffered sexual abuse.

"The NSPCC offered me a room and a telephone line two-and-a-half years ago and it has grown bigger than we ever expected," said Mrs Colclough, 41, a mother-of-three.

"Mothers are the forgotten victims. They are already feeling inadequate for failing to protect their child from abuse. Then they have to put up with other people's comments and also deal with all kinds of practical problems - if their partner was the perpetrator and he has moved out, they may have to find somewhere to live, and cope with the loss of an income as well. The child who has been abused can develop extreme behaviour like eating disorders, and there is also other children in the family to consider - they may be upset they have lost their dad. And the mother is at the helm of all this, and in such a turmoil of emotions."

Mothers of children who have been abused by their partner or a relative are saddled with a huge burden of guilt.

"The unanimous question people ask is: 'Why didn't I see it?' They torture themselves by saying things like: 'If only I hadn't gone to work/gone to the slimming class/worked overtime," said Mrs Colclough.

"The thing is, perpetrators of child abuse are manipulative and will often have encouraged the mother to leave the house, saying they will look after the children. Mums are not walking around blindly - but if your partner is sounding supportive and offering to look after the children you do not suspect he is going to abuse them."

Mosaic had proved to be a haven for mothers who are isolated and fed up with other people's unhelpful comments.

She added: "People who have not experienced it themselves will make comments like: 'I would have knifed him.' Comments like that don't help because the mothers are already feeling inadequate. At our group, everyone has been through it."

The charity runs a Tuesday afternoon support group for mums and also offers one-to-one counselling, a befriending service and a confidential telephone helpline.

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