What is Speak?

[xtremeroswellia]

What is Speak?

I've wanted to create this section of 'Only Time' since I opened the site nearly two years ago. But I wasn't ready. Wasn't ready to be honest about my life.

But now I am. Or at least, I think I am.



I volunteer at a sexual assault clinic because I myself am a survivor of child sexual abuse. So is my mother. And one of my best friends. My mother and one of my friends are also survivors of rape. Another is a survivor of attempted rape. I know more women who have experienced some sort of sexual violence than I do women who -haven't.-

That's says a lot right there.

For various reasons, I've pretty much remained silent about what happened to me. I can't talk to my family about it, nor can I talk to some of my friends. When I try to, the words stick in my throat, and I feel sick and terrified. Part of that comes from my wanting to protect them from the truth because I don't want them to blame themselves. The rest of it comes from a very deep-seated fear that they will blame me for what happened.



So I created 'Speak.'

It's easier for me to use writing as my tool of communication than it is for me to actually talk.

And this is my place to do just that.

If you are a survivor of child sexual abuse, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, you are not alone.
There is help out there.

There is hope. You can get through this.

You can break the conspiracy of silence.

You have a voice--whether you choose to use your voice verbally, or through art, or writing, or any other medium--you can use.

Don't suffer alone in silence.

Speak.