Peter Hamer

As a teenager, I experienced sexual abuse by a trusted teacher at Bell High School—an experience that changed the course of my life. For decades, I remained silent, trying to cope with the long-lasting effects of trauma: anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance use. Like many survivors, I dissociated from my experience in order to survive.

Everything changed in May 2016 when I saw a news story about another teacher at Bell High School who had been arrested for similar crimes. That teacher had been hired to replace the one who abused me. That moment became a turning point. I made the difficult decision to speak to the police. My disclosure helped lead to the arrest, charging, and conviction of my former teacher, who was later found guilty of abusing multiple students over a span of decades.

I was the first survivor to come forward, and since then, I’ve become an advocate for others - particularly male survivors of sexual abuse - and for systemic change in how schools respond to allegations and support victims.

In my final year of high school, I tried to protect others by speaking up. I told a teacher and then the school principal what had happened. The response I received was deeply disappointing. Instead of taking meaningful action, I was asked what I wanted to be done. I asked that the teacher no longer be at Bell, mainly to protect my younger brother and others. The teacher was quietly transferred to another school. No report was made to police, child protection authorities, or my parents. No investigation followed.

That failure to act sent a painful message: that what had happened to me didn’t matter. But it did matter—to me, to others who came before me, and to those who suffered after.

Since my abuser’s conviction in 2018, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and support dozens of survivors, both virtually and in person. Many of us share the same goal: to end child sexual abuse and to ensure survivors are heard, believed, and supported.

My advocacy has taken many forms. I participated in a year-long CBC investigation into institutional failures within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and other systems. This led to the powerful feature No More Secrets and CBC Ottawa’s first podcast series, The Band Played On.

I’ve spoken publicly about the risks children face within the education system and the urgent need for reform. Our schools must be safe, accountable environments where children are protected, and victims are supported - not silenced or ignored.

Ending child sexual abuse in schools requires bold, systemic change. It demands transparency from institutions, action from policymakers, and a culture that puts student safety above all else.

We cannot change the past, but we can change how we protect the future.