We walk by at least one of them every day.

We walk by at least one of them every day. Or we are one of them and live with what happened all the time.

One in four women and one in 6 men are sexually abused before age 18.  Such incidences cause the victims to suffer from PTSD.

You may think it’s tragic, but I never was a victim or an offender.  You will still be affected.  

Why?

Chances are, you will date a sexually abused person, sometime in your life. And how that person interacts with you, is greatly influenced the abuse.

One of the first things, a victim feels is RAGE.  “How dare anyone take away a part of me without my permission.”

Always close behind, is the feeling of shame. “I must be bad for this to happen to me.”

Victims are afraid.  “How do I know that all men or all women if given the chance, aren’t going to treat me like I was treated then?  And some of them never get pass being afraid, or feeling rage, or feeling shame.

Why do I write this?  After all, I’m not nor ever was an offender or a victim.  How could I ever know what victims feel like? I can’t.  However, I can imagine what I might feel if I were a victim. Recently, I became aware for 4 such incidences and felt prompted to write this.  And remind myself, what I can do is respect people I meet.  Treat them with the dignity each human being is entitled to.  Be kind and be gentle and appreciate them.  But for the grace of God, I could have been one of them.  Maybe my actions might help a victim come to understand they are not what happened to them, but one of the rest of us.

Have a wonderful day

Ted D.

I do a blog post on Tuesdays and Fridays.

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