He / she told me not to tell…

Information for adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

What is Child Sexual Abuse?
Sexual Abuse involves any unwanted sexual attention or contact. It can range from showing children sexually explicit pictures through to unwanted touching and sexual intercourse. Sexual abuse can happen to children and adults of all ages and backgrounds, both male and female.

If you were sexually abused as a child you may be feeling…

As an adult you may have difficulty with…

You may have issues around…

Trust
As children we place our trust in adults to keep us safe. When adults abuse that trust, a child’s faith in the world is broken and this is difficult to regain. As an adult you may be finding it difficult to place trust in any relationship.

Anger
Why me? Anger is a natural response to abuse. As a child you were probably unable to express this anger. As an adult you may turn anger inwards or find it difficult to be assertive.

Guilt
I should have been able to stop it. It is easy, as an adult to see ourselves as having more power as a child than we actually did. As an adult you may often take responsibility for situations over which you have little or no control.

Self Esteem
As a child you may have been told you were being abused because you were bad. Adults abused as children often see themselves as worthless and useless.

Is this normal?
Yes

• Every survivor responds to the abuse in his/her own way. There is no right or wrong way to act or feel.

What can I do?

• As a sexual abuse survivor, you have a right to look after yourself. Some of the common ways survivors find help are…
  
  
  • Seeing a sexual abuse counsellor
  • Doing a self-defence course
  • Ringing one of the listed support services
  • Joining a survivor support group

"Compiled for the Sexual Abuse Centre by Megan Rowe"