Skip to main content
Stories

Coming Forward

By May 21, 2021No Comments

I was sexually abused by my male family members and I was also raped.

HELP YOURSELF

  • It takes a great amount of courage to tell someone when something like this has happened to you. Thank you for trusting us to help you and putting yourself out there for help.
  • Do you have a trusted adult in your life that you can talk to about this? It may be a family member, or it could be a teacher, guidance counselor, member of your church family, therapist- anyone who can be a positive support and help you continue to reach out for the help you need. You may also benefit from reading a recent “What’s New Blog – Getting Help for Abuse During the Pandemic“. This article could help you anytime. Please review it and call the numbers it gives you.
  • Have you thought about talking with a professional? Abuse of any kind isn’t something that you deal with quickly.  It may be beneficial to talk to someone who is trained to help you put your thoughts and feelings in order, and guide you on the right path to moving forward.
  • If at any time you feel unsafe during this journey, please consider using the following supports if you feel there is no one you can turn to:

Child Help USA National Hotline
Available 24/7, over 170 languages
Helps youth who are suffering child abuse

1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
http://www.childhelpusa.org/

National Suicide Hotline
Available 24/7
Helps individuals in suicidal crisis with support

1-800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

CONSIDER THIS

  • If you haven’t made use of our website, you may want to consider some of the following:
    • Our “Tools” tab has resources for dealing with depression, making hard decisions and even creating your own support plan.
  • Have you thought about keeping track of your thoughts and ideas in a journal. This can be very helpful for anyone who has difficulty expressing themselves to others and needs a place to put those feelings safely into words.
  • Are there any community-based groups that you can attend in your area that could provide a safe place to deal with your feelings about this situation? Don’t be afraid to reach out, as you did here, to get the help you need.  There are many people who will want to help you.