Am I A Survivor?

How do we know if we are indeed survivors of child sexual abuse?

What classifies what happened to us as children as "Abuse"?

"I didn't stop what happened to me. I let it happen; therefore I am not a survivor".

"I'm a man, a man made from the experiences I experienced as a child… I was meant to go through those tough times as a child. No I am not a survivor".

"I was sexual at a young age; I just got mixed up with the wrong people".

Being a survivor doesn't mean you must have a full understanding of the things that happened to you as a child.

In it's simplest form surviving means that you have lived through "survived" some times during your childhood that have left you questioning what was appropriate or not.

Inappropriate Sexual touch - is any type of touch that you believed was something more than okay.

Inappropriate Sexual talk - is simply that, were you spoken to in a manner that was considered for "adults only".

Spankings - How were you disciplined as a child, what is appropriate punishment in your eyes.

Guilt - "Mommy hurts you because you disobey", were you made to feel you were responsible for your parents insecurities.

You are a survivor if in any way someone asked you to be something more than what you were at the time... a child.

What voice does a child have against an adult? Strength? Intelligence?

Children should never be the target of someone's sexual advances in any form. Whether it's touch, talk, guilt or abuse. We as children don't have the comprehension of what we are doing. What power does a child have over an adult whose years of practice of coercion is set on them.

If you were forced to do things you didn't want or did them because you were made to feel special means you are a survivor. You are a survivor. You are here now and you survived the abuse you endured as a child...

Welcome.