Comments for Child Abuse Story From Emily2

Click here to add your own comments

Jan 24, 2009
 On not being believed...
by: Darlene Barriere - Webmaster

Emily, concentrate on the fact that your mother believes you, because she's one of the most important people in your life. We can't make or force people to believe us; we can only know the truth ourselves, and then try to heal from that terrible truth.

No one believed me when I told them I was being battered by my mother. No one believed me when I told them she was trying to destroy and kill me. Worse was when they were indifferent, when they told me I deserved whatever I got. One time, I was desperate for help and for someone to listen. I went to a priest in my parish, a priest I believed in and naively thought was a conduit to God. I walked into that church with true faith that God Himself would listen, and that through the priest, would give me answers that would help me. But instead of even just listening to me, the priest that I had so much faith in gave me penance for dishonouring my mother. His actions were life-altering for me. Although it took time, I learned some valuable lessons from that fateful day. One such lesson was becoming self-reliant. I share this with you because I want you to know that you are not alone in your plight. Many of us child abuse survivors have experienced exactly what you are experiencing right now. There can be strength and power in that knowledge.

When you feel the need to talk to someone about not being believed or about what you endured, consider a school counsellor or a trusted teacher or perhaps the parent of a friend. Another resource is Child Help at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453). They are staffed 24/7 with professionally trained counsellors who will listen to you. And as I told another story contributor earlier this morning, you deserve to have someone listen to you.

Thank you for sharing your story with my visitors and me.

Darlene Barriere
Violence & Abuse Prevention Educator
Author: On My Own Terms, A Memoir

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Write Your Child Abuse Story.

Return to Child Abuse Story From Emily2

Disclaimer: To the best of my knowledge the child abuse
stories on this site are true. While I cannot guarantee
this, I do try to balance the need for the submitter to be
heard and validated with the needs of my visitors.



E-book: Victim To Victory

From Victim to Victory
a memoir

How I got over the devastating effects of child abuse and moved on with my life

Read more...

Most Recent

RSS

  1. Converging Stolen Lives

    Jan 30, 18 01:13 PM

    There was a time and space I didn’t think about you, or your abuse. Where when I looked back at my life, I only saw normal things, a normal childhood.

    Read More

  2. A letter to one of the 13 Turpin children

    Jan 29, 18 11:33 AM

    A heartfelt letter by a former classmate that speaks to bullying and regrets. You'll find it on my Facebook group. I hope you'll join and get in on the discussion.

    Read More

  3. Dissociated From Abuse

    Jan 29, 18 11:00 AM

    I was sexually abused by my father from age 6 to 13, which stopped when I started talking about it during the day. The teenage brother of my best friend

    Read More

E-book: Victim To Victory

From Victim to Victory
a memoir

How I got over the devastating effects of child abuse and moved on with my life

Read more...