I’m sharing this post because Wendy’s story is one that many survivors share, but don’t talk about enough:
That victim frequently faces dismissal and derision.
I’ve talked about it many times. There are people in this world, and in our lives, who would rather live their comfortable false existence than deal with the fact that someone they know is capable of abusing children. Their default reaction will be to disbelieve the survivor, to dismiss their story, mock them for attention-seeking, or flat-out reject someone for speaking the truth.
That’s sometimes the price we pay for speaking out. It’s not an easy price to pay, but let’s not kid ourselves that it doesn’t exist.
It exists, and as long as it does, there will remain thousands upon thousands of people out there who never talk about their abuse, but still need some of us out here talking so they know they are not alone.