“My own mother said, ‘You’re a mistake’ to me and my sisters. I started self-harming and fell into a deep depression. I actually believed what I’d been told.”
‘You drive me to drink. I wish I never had you!’ It was a nightmare. We suffered in silence.’: Abuse and bullying survivor urges, ‘Be kind to one another’
‘If you send me home, I will die.’ The doctor looked me in the eyes. ‘We’re all going to die.’: Mental illness, chronic pain warrior finds peace through therapy, ‘I accept myself as I am’
“I’ve been in a car wreck I shouldn’t have walked away from. I’ve attempted suicide 3 times. I’ve come close to death often. ‘Why do I exist?’ Now I knew exactly why I’m here.”
‘I explained my past. ‘The man took photographs. He was 57 years old.’ I hated myself and turned to drugs.’: Woman with BPD gets sober, changes life, ‘I love how far I’ve come’
“I struggled to talk to the therapist. I explained what I went through when I was 12. I encountered a child predator. Having my son pushed me to find the answers as to what happened.”
‘The higher-ups in my command took pictures of my rape and left them on my phone. They thought it was funny. ‘It’s your fault. You drank with them.’: Veteran, assault survivor says ‘no one gets justice until we all do’
“They sent someone to ‘keep an eye on me’ so I didn’t report it. All my medical documentation was suddenly ‘lost.’ I was laughed at and called a liar.”
‘My MARRIED Corporal would call me drunk at all hours of the night, calling me ‘baby.’ I was punished for not wanting to socialize with him outside of work.’: Female veteran, assault survivor says ‘we are all Vanessa Guillen’
“I was young and naive when I left home at 18 years old to join the Marine Corps. I remember lying awake in my empty barracks as Marines knocked on my door saying, ‘I’m gonna get you first.’ I was harrassed and accused of ‘sleeping my way through the ranks.’ I quickly realized not everyone in the Corps was my ‘brother’ or ‘sister.'”
‘It’s not remarkable to talk publicly about it. I don’t feel brave. We aren’t the ones who did something wrong.’: Mom and 2 daughters experience sexual assault, ‘All 3 of us are survivors’
“I don’t feel brave in sharing my story of sexual assault or the assault of our daughters. I feel afraid of what happens if we don’t. I’m claiming my story and revealing HIS shame.”
‘I always said, ‘He had sex with me while I was passed out.’ That is what I told myself it was.’: Rape survivor says ‘everyday I choose love and forgiveness’
“Like 19-year-old me. The girl who wore diamonds in her hair to the party that night. The night. The night it happened. He was my friend I took to the party. He knew I was falling for his friend.”
‘There’s no way to prove he didn’t know you didn’t want it.’ Fighting back tears, I said, ‘I was asleep.’: Sexual assault survivor represses memory for 3 years. ‘If this is what I needed to go through to learn all of this, then I am thankful’
“Every so often, the officer would say, ‘It doesn’t seem like you knew him really well.’ I was getting so frustrated. Does it matter? Would that change things?”
‘Too bad she’s gay!’ I was just a freak, or ‘the attention seeking weirdo.’: Vet survives abuse, depression, ‘I am not broken’
“I drank A LOT. I lost weight, bleached my hair, got tattoos, and tried to become a whole different person. I have a lot of ‘labels.’ But I am not disorderly. I am not broken.”
‘My boss said, ‘You’re a liability due to your health issues.’ I felt like I’d lost my purpose. I didn’t think I’d make it.’: Child abuse survivor, chronic illness warrior births child with down syndrome, ‘I WILL be the mother my kids deserve’
“We were told, ‘Your daughter has Down syndrome and will need heart surgery.’ I was urged to have an abortion, due to my own health issues. Everyone doubted my ability to be a mother to a special needs child. I was determined to prove everyone wrong.”
