Where did this come from? Where did we as a society go wrong that our kids are scared to confide is us. I realize there are cases where incidents are made up, but those are so few and far between. Look at the statistics, look how many stories are true! Why are we taking the risk of not believing our children?
It is heartbreaking to say but we as a society are making it easier for our children to be sexually abused. We are making it easier for the abuser to keep our children quiet. There are so many cases now where the abuser no longer needs to threaten or convince the victim that they can't tell. I am one of those cases; my dad never threatened me or said I couldn't tell. There was just this instant fear from the beginning that no one would believe me, especially my family. This is a huge problem that parents need to start working on. Your kids need to learn at a very young age that they can tell you anything, and that they should. We need to make our children feel safe and heard. Let them know they have a voice and it matters!
The next fear that I faced in my journey after my family eventually believed me was telling my story and people around still not believing me. This is a very common fear and can keep a victim from doing the proper healing. Unfortunately there is no way to just get rid of this fear, you have to work through it and realize on your own that it's not about them. I can't tell you why.. But our society has chosen to ignore this horrific abuse. I learned a long time ago that not everyone will believe me. To this day I have blood relatives that have chosen to stand with him and not believe me or stand up for what is right. But, I don't tell my story for them; I tell my story for the young girl who feels alone, or the boy who feels like he can't survive this. I tell so that I can be the voice for those who haven't found theirs yet. I tell because even though they may not believe me, it might be their child I save.
Survivors: I know it is difficult and understand the pain of telling your story. I can tell you from experience that it does get better and if you do it with the mindset that you are trying to prevent others from the pain you went through you will feel a sense of accomplishment. Tell your story for the children.