Survivors, Please be careful in reading this page. This page could be triggering as a survivor. If you are not stable today or are near crisis, please enjoy the rest of the site and visit this page on another day.

 

I suppose, if there's one thing I hope people will learn its to educate themselves about abuse. Most believe that Sexual abuse is the hardest to recognize, the hardest to talk about, and the hardest to heal from. The coping mechanisms that develop as a child during abuse are not chosen by the victim, they were what they clinged to for life, the only way we knew how to survive in terrifying circumstances. Please don't blame someone twenty years later, when they still refuse to keep the curtains open to the street, or choose not to sit in the middle of a crowded restaurant open to strangers on every side. Sexual abuse is Not about sex, it's about having Power over someone younger, or more innocent. And as a victim it's about losing control, losing that power, losing the right to make decisions over things like who can touch me and who can't.

In many classrooms with children, or in your sunday school class, or in your local choir, you have to remember, that 1 out of 3 women, in the USA has been sexually abused. That number is staggering!! One out of every four girls is sexually abused before age 16, and 1 of 3 by age 18. And those are just the statistics of those reported. Most are never reported, since 95% of all sexual abuse comes from someone the victim knows, and usually a family member.

 

The other survivors you meet on the road to recovery, are the most courageous and supportive people I've every known. You can Interact with web users from many provinces, states, and countries everyday whle accessing support forums. With the emotional support of the forum survivors, you may be able to manage to put a marriage back together, while holding down a job, and dealing with flashbacks, painful memories, PTSD, body memories, major depression, dissociative disorders and basic trust issues. It can change your life in many ways. Many others who help support, begin to see, how many of the things that have gone wrong with their lives, over the years, have been a direct result of the nondisclosed abuse. The light goes on, they begin discussing all their issues, and HEALING. Many early members of forums you join can go on to not only heal but as they feel stronger, begin to help other victims of abuse. They start support groups, hold weekly conferences, or donate time to hotlines and shelters. Because of the available moderated safe forums, they come, learn, and heal and then teach. This can be a wonderful resource for me and many other survivors, and I feel grateful to have found safe places along the way,my hope is by reaching out, we can help educate non-survivors and provide a safe, non-triggering domain for a while to those who need it.

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