Survivor Story

“It was when I was 13 and we were on a family vacation. My brother and I invited friends to join us. During one of the nights, my older brother and his friend came down to our bedroom and, under the guise that we would now have “real boyfriends,” proceeded to rape us both. My friend and I acquiesced not knowing how to protect ourselves. We kept it a secret. This happened a few more times, until we got caught. I then told my mother, and with utmost shame begged her not to tell my father. My mother not only did not share with my father, but she also told me that she did not report the incident to the police because she did not want to implicate my brother. Somehow, I was supposed to get over it.

Yet, my innocence was taken away from me. I did not go through the normal sexual discoveries of a teenager. I held onto my secret as my friends shared their first sexual experiences and into adulthood. It was through talk therapy and sharing my experience with good friends that I started to heal from my trauma. My healing brought me to ending an abusive marriage of 30 years and starting to live my life under my terms.”    

- Name Withheld