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The man of my nightmares is getting married. *PTSD triggers of sexual abuse*

User Profile: Alwaysundecided29
Alwaysundecided29 March 17th, 2017

I don't know the exact age; but I'm assuming I was somewhere between the ages of 3 and 5. He was the babysitter my parents hired (a boy in highschool, and the son of an extremely close family friend).He would put me to bed first, then my older brother.When he was sure that my brother was asleep, he would sneak back into my room and wake me up. He always told me to be quiet and that this was our little secret. He told me that we were special friends and that I couldnt tell anybody because then we wouldn't be a "secret club" anymore. He would take me into the bathroom,undress me, wrap me in his jacket and place me on the counter. He never officially raped me per se. He would finger me and touch me a lot. He would go as long as he could until I told him it hurt at which point he would stop ,and put me back to bed before my parents got home.

I'm almost 20 years old now, and ive long since lost contact with him, but I know his mother and talk to her often. I didn't remember anything until the memories came back to me around the age of twelve ; and then everthing came back in a flood. That's when my anxiety became very apparent. I blamed myself for everything (and some days I still do). They teach you in school - "dont let anyone touch you when you are naked except for your doctor" but I didnt understand what that meant and he seemed to care so much about our secret club that it seemed like it must have been ok. I didnt know to say no. I just wanted to make him happy, I thought he was my friend and that it was normal.

I didn't tell a single person until last year. I confided in my best friend of 12 years, and then later I confided in my boyfriend. They have both been amazing , my boyfriend has been so patient with me (both sexually, and otherwise). I never thought that someone would be able to accept me, i thought that men would always see me as damaged goods - but he never sees me that way.

But recently, I had a conversation with this mans mother, and she updated me on her life as per usual. It turns out that he is getting married this summer, and will most likely be starting their own little family soon. I cant help but feel responsible for the safety of his future children, and his future wife. She likely has no idea what he did, and though in the past I thought I had forgiven him, I know now that is not true. And that I could not forgive him for doing this to anyone else.

The thing is that I have no proof. I have no evidence that it ever happened, I have never told my parents , nor do I want to (they would only blame themselves), and I dont want to ruin my family's relationship with his mother. I dont want to go through the court-system only to be blamed and victimized further, to relive the experiences all over again.

So either way I feel like an awful human being and I sit up most nights feeling this way so I thought it was time to get it off my chest. As lovely as my boyfriend is, He just doesn't get it. He doesnt understand why I think everything is my fault and he doesnt understand why Im so caught up in this mans marriage. He says its not my responsibility to protect anyone but myself. Anyways... thats a whole lot of stuff and Im sorry if I've burdened anybody with it. Any advice or just support would be incredible.

I hope you are all having much better days/ nights than I am.

3
March 17th, 2017

@Alwaysundecided29 I am truly sorry for your experience, I can't imagine the anxiety and pain you are going through right now. sad

@DeborahUK

1 reply
User Profile: Alwaysundecided29
Alwaysundecided29 OP March 17th, 2017

@TrueArrow thank you so much. It's really wonderful just to see someone read this . Thank you for your words - you have no idea how much they mean to me 💕

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User Profile: DeborahUK
DeborahUK March 18th, 2017

@Alwaysundecided29

Oh gosh, that's a whole heap of feelings to be coping with, and I'm so sorry you're in this position after all that's happened to you.

I'd say your boyfriend is right, in that you're not responsible for other people's lives, but I also understand your sense of feeling responsible and wanting to ensure others safety. I don't know what the solution is to that predicament, but if you wanted to talk privately with me to explore options, I'm more than happy to listen.

As for what this man did to you.....you'll have heard this before but I have to stress it....it was not your fault. The difficulty with abuse is it's so often the victim who carries the burden of it, who feels that shame and guilt, but it's the perpetrator who did wrong. It's not right for you to be punished like that when he's the guilty one! You my dear were an innocent little girl. And he took advantage of you in the most dreadful way.

But....I know it's easy for me to say that, harder for you to accept it deep down, because that burden has sat with you for many years now. I hope with the support you have from your boyfriend and best friend, you may start to let go of this horrible experience. You're not damaged goods, you're not at fault, you're not responsible, and you've taken that difficult first step of sharing your story with other people.

You're strong, you're a survivor.