Sexual Abuse

It didn't feel like abuse. I have heard several people make that statement. The body has a natural way of reacting to human touch regardless of who is doing the touching. It is a reaction that is supposed to happen. Many victims feel guilty about feeling pleasure so therefore will deny or simply never admit having been abused. If you are or were not an adult when you were being touched it's abuse. Some will even accuse the victim of asking for it because he or she is promiscuous. Regardless it is still abuse. It may be a relative within the household which makes the victim feel scared and yet protective at the same time. None of us want our family members in trouble. My abuser was a relative, a cousin who was very close to the family. I grew up in what used to be a small town and it wasn't uncommon to see relatives walking in and out of houses at all hours of the night and day as well. I spent all my life feeling ashamed of myself for what happened to me. I had not realized it was abuse. I confronted my abuser last year and it was very difficult for me because I was alone, except for someone I was seeing at the time who truly held me from afar and gave me the emotional strength to go through with it. Unfortunately I was blinded by hope, still he was there when I needed him most even though it was only a mental thing for me because he was preoccupied at the time and it had nothing to do with me. Which proves we are as strong as we want to be when push comes to shove. There is no shame in being a victim; there is shame in being an abuser and also in protecting one as well.