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I was a victim of child sexual abuse when I was 7 years old and my cousin's stepbrother was 9 or 10. He abused me for two years. I told my mother what happened, and his parents punished him. Most of my family didn't believe me. In a conversation with my mother, she told me I had probably made up the whole abuse and that I was a liar, and I cried a lot that day. My grandmother is proud of him because he's a doctor in Germany and has a good life, while I'm trapped. I can't stand being touched and I can't get over it, even though I've been to therapy. Yesterday I saw his Instagram and felt bad because he moved on and I didn't. He told me it was a secret and I trusted him (the three of us were alone because my uncle and his wife -who is the mother of my abuser- are doctors so they were always in the hospital). They would leave the food ready for us and he (A) would put it in the microwave. A pulled my pants down a little or lift my skirt (if i was wearing one). When A was on top of me he was kissing me- it was overwhelming and i couldn't focus on anything else but his breath and voice, he was grabbing his crotch, but I didn't understand what he was doing. We were playing normal with his little sister and then A exclude her from the game to be alone with me so A put her in front of the television so she wouldn't focus on us and was distracted. Then A guided me to the room, he close the door to the room he shared with his sister (my cousin's bed was near the door and his wasn't), so he would make me lie down on the floor next to his bed so no one could see us. At first, I would get on top of him, but then he said I was too heavy to be in that position (I guess it wasn't comfortable for him to abuse me). That led to an eating disorder that I still have; I even developed anemia last year. I remember once I ran to the bathroom because something didn't feel right, but he started banging on the door but then I realized there was nothing I could do, I mean where would I go? My uncles locked us out. I remember once, A didn't close the door properly because his sister came in, and he straightened his clothes and pushed me under his bed, but his sister saw me and asked me what I was doing there, and I stayed there for a long time. And her sister got under the bed to keep me company; she was saying something to me, but I couldn't hear her, or maybe I wasn't paying attention. I think I'm broken, because his kisses and his voice in my ear were too much, and I never noticed if he ejaculated or if something else happened that I overlooked or never noticed because I never went to a doctor, my mom never reported him. And we couldn't count on my dad because he abandoned us and went off with the neighbor and treated her daughter as his own while the abuse was happening. That's why I lived in their house during that time; that's why the abuse continued because I was in the provinces and my mother traveled to the capital because of a false accusation my father made against her. A year later, my mother's half-brother baptized me with my abuser's mother, and I never said anything. I just smiled in the photos as if nothing was wrong while I hugged A. Now I´m 22 and I still feel sick and dirty.

When I was a very young age, (around 4-6 years old) I became friends with another boy on my street about 3 houses down. He was the same age as me, and had an older brother, D, who was probably about 16-17 at the time. There was a time we were watching the movie Movie in the basement of their house with the older brother there, and I had told them about how I walked in on my parents naked and how I thought it was funny. D used it as an opportunity to explain to me what sex was. He had me and his little brother take our clothes off and touch each other and said it was just a fun game and that he was teaching us. I don’t recall anything beyond that. A lot of this day is blocked out of my mind and something tells me that more even happened beyond this as I still continued to hang around here. There was a specific incident where me and the boy my age got naked together and laid in bed and my dad came in and caught us. I felt so much shame. I felt like a creature. My nephew is 2 years younger than me, so we grew up together sort of like brothers. He would often spend the night at our house. When I was somewhere between 10-13, there were a couple of times that I would touch him inappropriately in his sleep. I don’t know what my thought process was, and I honestly didn’t even process that I did these things and what they meant until I was much older. I’ve felt like a disgusting monster for it. I love my family more than anything, and the kid that did that is no where near the man that I am today. But I did that. That was me. And I’ve found it hard to process and realize. My nephew has struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse for a long time, and even though our family has a long history of the men in the family having addiction issues, I can’t help but think that I did that to him. I changed the trajectory of his life because I was a sick abusive little kid. His mom, my sister, is officiating my wedding soon. My nephew got drunk and for the first time confronted me about what happened when we were kids and just texted me “I’m not coming to your wedding. you touched my dick when I was little and I remember. Fuck you. Bitch.” And I felt my life flash before my eyes and all of a sudden this shame and hate towards myself boiled completely up. My first thought was that my life was over. My second thought was what the fuck have I done. I’m not sure how to heal from this or how to keep going. Hopefully therapy will help.

I had an entire story written out but don't know if I'm ready to tell it in detail yet. Basically as a young man in my early twenties I was lured to a house by an older man, drugged, raped, and then essentially sexually and psychologically tortured over a period of two weeks. All of this was an attempt to condition me to essentially believe I deserved it all, and to continue to participate in these acts where I was degraded, raped, humiliated, which I did. I pulled away a few times over the years but would always come back. Usually personal setbacks would trigger the shame for what had happened to me and what I had willingly done and I would go back. Finally I got married and moved to another state. But I never really cut contact with them. During the marriage I was in pyschiatric hospitals two times. I had been developing loss of sexual sensitivity issues for a long time and refused to get them treated, because I felt I didn't deserve my wife. 6 months before it ended I started engaging in self harm that increased this issue. I wanted to stop any chance I had of being with her in that way. Eventually she divorced me. I left for my home state and went straigh back to the group I was with before. I lived that lifestyle until two years when I stopped completely. There is more to tell but basically I don't understand the actions of most of my life. I was lured into this against my will, but willingly entered into it after some coercion. When I experienced my first rape my entire thinking and understanding of the world shifted. If that hadn't happened, would I have sought out some similar group of people and done similar stuff? I don't see myself as a victim. But if I do secretly want the life with the “group,” why do I keep leaving it. Why when I leave it am I able to live a somewhat normal life? But end up seeking destruction again? I'm writing this because within the last few weeks I have felt that despite the force and coercion, I chose to participate. And knowing that have had feelings that I'm essentially bad, and thus put myself back in harmful situations.

I am age 60. I was raped, I guess, a few decades ago. I cannot recall the year due to blocks. Not sure why that is. But I don't pressure it. My rapist was a federal executive, with a secret clearance. He defrauded me in the marriage, with held his autism and clearance status from me. Deeply manipulated me. Spied on me with tech in our home. This was between 1990s and 2017. Spying on me enabled his raped of me. I learned he was spying on my computer as he raped me. But, I have an art degree, in 2017 (the rape was previous to 2017) I could not grasp how he spied. But the raped proved to me he was. It destroyed me. As an empath, trusting, I guess to a fault, I never comprehended he was violating my privacy and when he violated my body: it crushed me. It took decades to walk again, by this I mean stand. Emotionally stand. I hid it from therapists. I told hospitals he raped me and they ignored that report then released me directly back into his power. This continued assaults. All I can say to young women is; you are not to blame. I learned my ex was a legitimate pyschopath. And that enabled the rape. Few can navigate psychopath abuse. But, even fewer when your rapist is a federal executive with a secret clearance. Don't give up. Ever. Don't ever give up. You don't deserve to be treated like a female animal. Nor your daughters. Sadly, white men in power? Never progressed into civility.This is my story. DON'T GIVE UP.

I Saved Myself Every system that was supposed to protect me failed me. My family. The police. The courts. Children and Youth. I had to save myself. This is how. I met him in 2016. After my son was born. He came in like a knight in shining armour. The devil was hiding inside him. I moved in with him the day I met him. The control started right away. One summer day he went through my phone. He threw it and it shattered. He pushed me on the porch. I fell with my son in my arms. My body became his shield. The neighbors called the police. They arrested him. His mother showed up and asked me what did you do. Not what happened. Not are you okay. What did you do. Then she turned off the air conditioning and left my son and me to sweat in the summer heat. She was our landlord. I should have left then. I did not know how. One year after the porch I stood in Walmart with empty pockets and a hungry three year old. He had made sure there was no food in the house. Not because we were broke. Because he did not care. I stole an entire bag full of food. I did not make it past the door. Security stopped me. The police came. I broke. They put me on a 302 hold right then. And they took my son. Not to family. To foster care. The system does not ask why you stole. It just sees a crime and punishes you for surviving. A month later my mom got him. She fought through paperwork and background checks from out of state. She brought him home. I stayed behind. I did not know how to leave anymore. He decided we were moving. Hours from my mom. Hours from my son. Hours from anyone who could help. Then I was raped to have a baby. I tried to get an abortion. He refused. He abused me for trying. He drove me hours back home against my will instead of to the appointment. I told him I could not do this. He said we are keeping it. I said I do not think I can. He said you do not have a choice. Four words. Final. When my daughter was born they put her on my chest. I felt nothing. Not love. Not relief. Just emptiness. I thought I do not know how to love you. I do not even know how to love myself. A few days after we got her home he grabbed my weeks old daughter from her crib and threw her into her swing. He called her a fat fucking pig. He propped her bottle on a blanket so he would not have to hold her. I stood frozen. If I moved it would get worse. We moved to city, state. The house had holes in the floors. No heat. It was winter. We lived in one room with a space heater. Two days after we moved in I could not take it anymore. I left her in her swing. He was home. I walked to the nearby school and called an ambulance. I told them I slapped my daughter. I lied. It was the only way to get a 302 hold. The only way to be taken seriously. They kept me for weeks. I finally slept. Then Children and Youth knocked. The caseworker said his mother had temporary legal guardianship of my daughter. I believed them. I had no lawyer. I was drowning. So I complied. What I found out much later is that it was a lie. She never had guardianship. But by then I had acted like she did. And the system called that abandonment. We moved into a camper on his mothers front lawn. My daughter lived inside the house. We lived outside in the cold. They expected me to visit her. I could not walk through that door. His mother was in there. Watching. Judging. The woman who enabled everything. So I left. A few days later he texted that I could get my things. Everything I owned was destroyed. Clothes ripped. Photos torn. Deliberate. A message that said if I can not have you you get nothing. Everyone asked what are you going to do about your daughter. Not how are you healing. Not what do you need. I fought for custody because that is what mothers are supposed to do. Then the court gave me a choice. Sign over full custody or keep fighting and lose anyway. I signed. He texted me. If you want to see her you have to pay. He turned my daughter into a transaction. Years later I tried again. Every other weekend she came to my apartment and screamed for her dad for hours. He had told a four year old she was not allowed to like her mother. Then I found out I was pregnant. Not forced this time. Chosen. With someone safe. He started texting me constantly. Telling me I was worthless. Telling me to kill myself. Just off yourself. Everyone would be better off. Over and over. I was pregnant. I called Children and Youth. The same system that failed me before. They said there is not much we can do unless there is immediate danger. And just like that I was the problem again. Not him. Not the system. Me. So I made a choice. I stopped seeing my daughter. I stopped answering his texts. I stopped performing. I moved three hours away with my partner and had the baby I chose. The baby I wanted. I pay child support every month. On time. Because that is my legal obligation. But I do not call. I do not visit. And I do not feel guilty about it anymore. I am writing this from my living room. My baby is asleep in the next room. The baby I chose. For the first time in my life I understand what people mean when they say motherhood is beautiful. Because it can be. When it is chosen. When it is supported. When it is safe. People ask if I regret it. I regret that she exists in pain. But I do not regret leaving. I do not regret choosing myself. I do not regret finding peace. This is not a redemption story. Forced motherhood does not always end with healing. Sometimes it ends with walking away. And that is okay. Because my life matters too. My survival matters too. If you are reading this and you see yourself in my story. If you were forced into motherhood. If you are drowning and no one believes you. You are not alone. You are not broken. You are not a monster. You are surviving. If you need permission to choose yourself. If you need someone to tell you it is okay to walk away from something that is destroying you. I am giving it to you. You are allowed to survive. You are allowed to choose peace. Healing is not the ending. It is the direction. And I am still walking it.