Hey look, here’s a another male victim of childhood sexual abuse, someone many of us are familiar with, who is in the public eye, and who’s father was also sexually abused.
Tell me again how sexual abuse doesn’t happen in your circle, only to other people. If you think that, you’re wrong. It happens everywhere, to all kinds of people. So stop with the stigma.
Freddie Starr, who offered to talk to police voluntarily last week, was arrested by police investigating claims of indecent assault made by one woman and bailed for the second time between Thursday 1st November and the last weekend. He also disclosed to the media about his own abuse at the same time. That article is in…
From my email today, thought it might be of interest to our UK readers: Tackling Child Abuse Conference Prevention, Investigation and Prosecution Monday 27th September 2010 – Central London http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/public-sector-conferences/police-criminal-justice/full-conference/article/tackling-child-abuse-conference.html?code=MKRG The police and partner agencies are under heightened pressure and scrutiny to effectively crack down on child abuse following a series of damaging high profile…
Drew didn’t necessarily write this for abuse survivors, but I can’t help but feel like the advice here goes two, three, four fold for survivors: “It is worth acknowledging a lot of our old blueprint emerged as self-protection. Created during a time when being turned down by someone you had a crush on hurt to…
I stumbled upon this post from Psych Central today that I hadn’t seen before. As I read it, I considered sharing it and pulling out a quote to focus on, like I sometimes do, but I decided not to. I decided that because there are multiple things you should go read. The article talks about the signs of childhood trauma, the causes of trauma, and some suggestions for treatment.
Then the author, Melissa Gooden, suggests books for parents, caregivers, and kids, links to places where they can learn more or get help, etc.
‘ve been describing it to friends and coworkers as “the inability to just turn off the fear of other people and their germs”. Because, in some ways, that’s exactly what it was. I’ve spent a year plus barely leaving my house. Sure, I worked from home even before the pandemic, but it’s an extreme sport now, going into the back yard is an adventure into a strange and exotic place, let alone being around other people.
Yesterday, however, I did manage to get out and meet up with a friend and former coworker. I won’t say it wasn’t awkward. But, it wasn’t as awkward as my anxiety had built it up in my head, mostly because I think we both knew it was awkward, and went out of our way to figure out what we were comfortable with. We met in the office building where she works, wearing masks. She asked if I wanted to keep being masked walking to lunch, and we agreed to not, and to sit outside to be safer. And she asked before giving me a hug after lunch.
It was an important lesson to me, that we need to navigate this together with the people we care about, and meet them at the level where they are comfortable. It’s not about racing to be the most “normal” group, it’s about making sure everyone comes along, and is comfortable, because we’ve all dealt with various levels of trauma over the last 14-15 months, trauma that will show up in a variety of ways. There’s nothing wrong with people who are slower to feel comfortable, they are just doing what they can. I’d rather meet them where they are, and where I am, than not see them at all anymore, or shame them about their own hesitation. It’s not a race.
