Monday, February 2, 2009

In the Truth Itself, There Is Healing

I am really enjoying the introduction, titled “In the Truth Itself, There Is Healing” from I Never Told Anyone: Writings of Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. I have posted quotes and ideas I have gained from this book. Today, I read about the reasons a child submits to sex with a man. The parts of this section that apply to me are bold-faced:

Though there may be no physical force involved, every time a child is sexually used by a man, there is coercion. A child submits to sex with a man for many reasons: She is afraid to hurt the man’s feelings; she wants and needs affection and this is the only form in which it’s being offered; she is afraid that if she resists, the main will hurt her or someone else; she is afraid that if she resists, the man will say she started it and get her in trouble; she is taken by surprise and has no idea what to do; the man tells her it’s okay, the man says he’s teaching her, the man says everybody does it; she has been taught to obey adults; she thinks she has no choice.

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