Looking for a little piece of sky

South Africa is dealing with an epidemic of child sexual abuse - 25446 children complained of it to the police in 2012 and 2013.

But many instances are not reported.

A Piece of Sky: Stories of Child Sexual Abuse gives a glimpse into the depravity and horror of the crime and into the resilience of the victims.

The book tells the stories of those who survived rape and of those who lost their lives.

It also features the stories of the perpetrators, who are often seen as monsters but are human and often themselves victims of abuse.

The title was inspired by 39-year-old Dylan, who was forced to pose for child pornography, and was sodomised as a young boy by a teacher at his church, and later by many other adults.

As he grew older his life spiralled out of control, becoming centred on sex, drugs, money and crime. He was repeatedly imprisoned.

It took him 30 years to gain control of his life and accuse the perpetrators.

He committed suicide in 2008.

Another story is that of 27-year-old Thuli.

She was only six when her father began raping her, sometimes while her mother was in the room.

"My father would rape me in front of my mother and I would hear my mother crying," she said.

Thuli's appeals to the police were in vain ... In desperation, she took out a hit on her father and was imprisoned. Terminally ill, she was released early but was shot by her father's brother. She survived.

But not all stories in the book convey hopelessness.

One victim, raped by a stranger when she was 13, said: I have had quite a shitty life but there are many good things that have come out of it. You can either learn from experience and grow with it, or you can let it get to you.

"There is always light."

'I mourn what died inside me'

• "He killed me, he killed my innocence, he killed my honesty A part of me died years ago. I have been mourning it my whole life." Dylan
• "I actually blamed myself for it because I thought maybe I provoked the thoughts or provoked the actions, but I was just a boy, I was only 11 or 12 years old. I was seeking attention, I was seeking love, I was seeking comfort and he abused the situation." Grant, who was sexually abused by a school teacher.
• "I hated myself for doing it. I hated to even look or clean or care for my body which was being used to destroy innocent lives."Teresa, a mother who sexually abused her daughters. She was also abused by her parents.
• "It is very easy to blame monsters and a sick society but that doesn't bring us any closer [to the answer]. As long as you are calling people sick, you're saying they're not normal and therefore not part of us. And actually that is us." researcher Lisa Vetten on perpetrators