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Narrative
Artwork
I was...
Home
at Someone Else’s Home
at Work
in School / University
in a Bar / Restaurant
in the Military
at a Social Event
Traveling
in a Service Setting
in a Religious Setting
Incarcerated
in a Public Space
Online or in a Digital Space
Other
The person who harmed me was a...
Stranger
Acquaintance
Non-Romantic Friend
Casual / First Date
Spouse
Romantic Partner
Ex-Partner
Family Member
Authority Figure
Colleague
Minor
I identify as...
Asian
Arab / Middle Eastern / North African
Black / African / Caribbean
Hispanic / Latino / Spanish
American Indian / Alaska Native
Two or More Races
Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander
White
My sexual orientation is...
LGBTQ+
Straight / Heterosexual
Lesbian / Gay
Bisexual
Pansexual
Queer
Asexual
I identify as...
a Man
a Woman
Transgender
Non-binary
Gender nonconforming
Genderqueer
I identify as...
a Person with a physical disability
a Person who is neurodivergent
a Person who is deaf / hard of hearing
a Person who is blind or has a visual impairment
a Person with a speech or language impairment
a Person with an intellectual or developmental disability
an Immigrant
I was...
a Child
a Teenager
a Young Adult
an Adult
a Senior / Elderly Person
When this occurred I also experienced...
Physical harm
Emotional abuse
Financial abuse
Human trafficking
Stalking
Verbal abuse
On this page are stories shared by survivors that highlight hope but can also be hard to read. A grounding activity can help you to feel calm and make it easier to read these stories. Do you want to try one of our grounding activities?
Healing means to me coming home to an empty self and filling it each day with a me.
The hope is we survive, we thrive, and we find our voice. Don't let someone else take away your voice and your truth.
You can be brave
Healing is allowing yourself to be seen and known and loved, even when you are carrying all you have been through and everything that has made you feel broken. Healing is realising you don’t need to be ‘healed’ to be loved, by yourself or anyone else. Healing is knowing you are perfect and worthy just because you exist. Healing is finding home in your body again. Healing is being your own safe space.
A number of years on, I am still healing from my experience, but it begins to get a little easier as you build more positive memories beyond what happened to you in the past. Having a relationship that is healthy, and that we all deserve, is healing because I feel more safe now and I know my boundaries will be respected and I will be loved regardless of the level of intimacy. I am healing by enjoying experiences that make life feel worthwhile.
Trans ethnic adoption is a form of abuse. Finding your way back to your true home is possible no matter who has tried to get in your way.
Don't let your trauma be all that you are. You're more than what others may say. You're you, and that's what is so beautiful. Continue to fight, don't let what had caused you be this way, win once again. You're stronger than you think, we all are. Sometimes, we just need encouragement to see that. Good luck to all of my wonderful survivors, you're all different and coping differently, and that's so valid.
To other survivors who have gone through anything similar,
Please know that no matter what you will find people who can love you for you, and actually try to understand you as a person. You will heal. The nightmare will end. You'll wake up and suddenly the world will be so beautiful to you. You'll feel so much love, nothing like you've ever felt before, and everything will be okay.
Thank you for reading this. I wish I could give you a hot cup of tea and a big blanket to wrap yourself in. I'm sending you my love and hope and prayers. Please remember me.
i never thought i would let another man touch me after him. it's been just over a year and i met someone new and wonderful, and i've reclaimed myself and my body in a way i never would have dreamed was possible. keep the faith. i love you.
1 new update
You are strong, you are brave and God has a great purpose for you hear!
I spent years suffering in silence so now I'm choosing to heal out loud
I was in fourth grade, i went to the movies with these 3 boys. they tried to bring me into the bathroom, sit on their laps, tried putting their hands up my shirt and down my pants. the next day they put me in a group chat and we're putting sexual emojis and saying a lot of sexual things. was this sexual assault or cocsa in any way?
Being at peace with myself. Being relaxed, without having a worried mind.
Inform children. Sexual education matters a lot. Especially to neurodivergent people.
I was about 5/6 the first time it happened. I had no idea what was going on I just knew I felt weird.. deep in my stomach.. that gut wrenching feeling I would get before my parents would line us up for swats. It started with him being a little touchy and "accidently" walking in on me while I was showering/ changing then he got more and more handsy until finally he trapped me in the basement one day. He managed to pin me on the ground and lifted up my dress; before I knew it he had ripped my underwear and was touching me. It felt like an eterni...
I was sexually abused by my older cousin for a prolonged period of time. The details are very hazy but I was about 9 to 11 and he was about 22. Remembering this experience and coming to terms with what was really happening took years and I had no professional help. I also realized I engaged in similar behaviors with my younger sister probably at the same time. The whole experience is a mess in my mind I don’t know what exactly happened and when but I know it’s true. I don’t know if my sister remembers but I once opened up to her very briefly a...
It’s been 2 years since my ex-husband and I separated. We have two children together a girl, age 8 and a boy, age 5. After our relationship ended, I began to tell various third-parties about our relationship’s dynamic and what our sex life was like. With this, I started to reflect on the relationship and soon realized how abusive it was. My ex-husband would force me to have sex with him at every 2-3 days and if I didn’t he would treat me terrible, getting angry at me, giving me the silent treatment, acting like a pouty child and excluding me f...
If you're unsure wether or not your experience "counts" then it does. You're so strong and healing is possible. You are not to blame. It was not your fault. Im proud of you.
No se si esto estuvo catalogado como cocsa pero, cuando tenia entre 10 años mi hermana me pidio me rogo por favor, que hiciera el s3x0 con ella, yo no estaba seguro pero al final lo hice ¿esto cuenta como cocsa?
Help me please
I found out i was assaulted when i was ten or so by my older half brother. I woke up to him in my bed, and i was a child so i didnt think much of it, but i always had this rule where i didnt want anyone in my bed because it was mine and blah blah, so i told him i was gonna tell on him later and he ran back to my brother bunk bed where he originally slept and didnt say anything. I ran over to tell my parents, and in the morning yhey obviously knew something was wrong so they asked him why he was in my bed and he admitted that he...
When I was 8 (or 9, I don't recall) one of my cousins (who was the same age, a few months younger), who was visiting, brought me outside to our backyard. I lived with my grandparents at the time who barely monitored me so they had no idea of anything.
I used to go over to my step cousin's house when I was 7 to 10 years old since my dad was a cousin to her step dad. I specifically remember one day when I was around 9 years old my step cousin who is a year younger than me asked me if I wanted to play house with her. I said yes of course since I thought we were just going to play house like kids tend to. But then she said that she'll be the mom and I would be the dad. And I just remember her kissing me as she would pretend we were getting married. Afterwards she told me to touch her private ar...
i was visiting a cousin's house this one summer and my 2nd cousin was also there too, hanging out as well. i remember being upstairs in my cousin's "gaming room" with multiple of my cousins, my brother, and, the star of the show, my 2nd cousin. we were about to watch a movie i'm pretty sure and my 2nd cousin started to get a little closer to me and sometimes kissing me too. we then started to watch the movie and right after it was finished, everyone left and it was just me and my 2nd cousin. i remember being behind a couch and laying next to a...
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