The words taken from this story were written by an adult survivor friend to describe her molestation. This creative exercise was a powerful tool that has aided her in her healing process. She chose to express her pain in the language of a children’s book. It helped her remember and it gave her a voice.
Nothing can silence a human being like shame. And nothing can elicit such deep personal humiliation like childhood sexual abuse.
My friend concludes this paragraph in her story with these sad words, “The princess went on with her life as if nothing had happened, but a piece of her soft heart became hard like stone.”
So this week, I once again have my “what if” questions: What if her parents had taught her about sexual abuse? What if they had built a bridge of communication with their daughter regarding abuse so that she could possibly cross over and tell them what had happened? What if she had known that she could trust them with her shame?
Once again we will never know the answers to my questions. Sexual abuse is a complicated issue. But wouldn’t it be comforting, to know as parents, that at least we tried?
Thank you for sharing this. It only takes one person to listen to us without condemnation to realize our fear and shame is deception to ourselves. So sad that your friend developed the hardened heart, but beautiful that she was able to heal by facing her fears and sharing her "shame".
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