Sexual Assault Stories
Content Warning: The following content contains multiple forms of trauma, including sexual assault. This dialogue may be emotionally challenging and triggering.
Anonymous, Written Stories
Story #1
“I’ve been followed after colleges parties many times before and sometimes with mutual friends who later want to hangout and flirt with me. There’s a lot of peer pressure in those moments and coercion so when I said no many times, it didn’t matter. It’s been 2 years and sexual harassment is hard, I hope people can heal over the years like I am currently.”
Story #2
“I was 13 years old when I was sexually assaulted by someone who I thought was a trusted friend. I confided in one friend at the time but did not tell them the full extent of what had happened. Not even a year later, I discovered that the friend I had confided in had been molesting me in my sleep for months. These events have damaged me both physically and emotionally-- how I view myself and my worth to others to this day.”
Story #3
“To give a brief snapshot into a lifelong story, I am a survivor of many sexual assaults. I was raised by my grandparents for the first few years of my life. My grandfather was sexually abusive every day during these 7 years until my dad got custody. Because I was a victim so young in life, I had a hard time setting boundaries later as a preteen. I ended up in very unsafe situations with men much older than me because I still didn't understand what was normal and what wasn't in regards to sexual relations since no one around me talked about it after I was removed from my grandparents' care. I started trauma therapy when I was about 14, and I soon realized the severity of all my trauma. It was very hard for me to process and I ended up in a juvenile psychiatric hospital soon after because I had become a danger to myself as my emotions got too intense to handle. While this was definitely the hardest part of my life, I cannot express how much this hospital changed my life. Slowly but surely I was able to continue living my life with the knowledge of my trauma. I ended up missing a year of high school in the hospital, but thanks to a local ALC I graduated on time! I'm doing better than I ever have been now and I am loving college and making friends. To any survivors out there, I just want you to know that you can make it through even your darkest days. You deserve to be happy, you deserve to live life, and you deserve what's best for you. Please continue to reach out and get help and know that there are so many people out there to support you. I do not know you, and you do not know me, but I love you and I understand.”
Story #4
“In high school, I had a stalker. It started after I was the lead in my school musical and I started receiving notes and gifts in my choir folder. Thinking it was an innocent prank from one of my classmates, I wrote back. He then started leaving me money and more notes in my folder and I started to get freaked out because I had no idea who was doing this. I found out that one of the janitors had been stalking me, he was 19 and I was 17. Nothing violent ever happened and one of my teachers ended up reporting him to the administration but it was still scary to think that this person became obsessed with me after seeing me in a show. It made me feel unsafe in school and there were virtually no resources for me to reach out to because I wasn't even aware of what was actually happening and everyone around me also thought it was a joke at first. Long story short, men need to be aware that actions that seem harmless to them can be very creepy to women. I'm definitely more paranoid now. “
Story #5
“When I was a Sophomore in high school I got drunk at a party. A guy from the party followed me home because he wanted to hook up. My mom was never home on the weekends and that was well known. He came into my house and helped me down the stairs into my room. I was too drunk to realize anything was going on. I fell asleep in my bed and woke up with him having sex with me. He tried to have anal sex with me but I cried and covered myself with my hands. He pushed them away and put it in and I cried, then he left and that was it.”
Story #6
“When I was 17 I was abused by a partner who was about to graduate college. He had a sister my age. I thought I had been consenting, and did not realize that minors cannot consent at all in that situation. Now, as a 21-year-old, the age that person was when they were abusing me, I find myself disgusted to think sexually about 17-year-olds in high school. I did not even understand it was abuse until the age of 20 when I started having flashbacks about my experience and it was affecting other relationships. Seeing this person who is now successful and in a stable relationship is very difficult because it’s his word against mine, and I find it embarrassing to share. “
Story #7
“I wish people would have a better understanding of how traumatizing it can be to report your case. In general, I am a very outspoken person who has always stood up for myself and others. When I tell people what happened to me, they often ask (usually very respectfully) if I plan on reporting my rape to the authorities. When someone reports their assault, it means they're basically going to have to relive and retell what happened to them. Not only that, but it usually means they are going to have to face their perpetrator again, which can be unbelievably traumatizing. Also, I don't think I could live with myself if I lost that case. Now that it's been a few years, I have accepted that I am never going to report my assault. My only regret around this is that since I didn't report him, this man could potentially do this to other people, and that weighs very heavily on me. All in all, I wish I and others would've known that CHOOSING NOT TO REPORT YOUR CASE IS OKAY, and people that don't know your experience cannot tell you otherwise.”
Story #8
“He planned every move and over-served me. Told his roommate to leave when he said it would be a group hang. We had been so close, that I was going out on a limb to trust him. I don't remember how we started kissing I just remember asking what was happening over and over again.
A week later he gaslighted me into thinking he was just as confused as I was. I thought I should give being "fun and spontaneous" a try for once. And then the one time I did I was taught a lesson I already knew.”
Story #9
“I’ve had 2 experiences with sexual assault. one happened when I was 16 and another when I was 17. I just learned today in therapy that the second one that happened to me was rape.”
Story #10
“I was in a relationship from the age of 16 to 19 with someone who repeatedly coerced me into having sex with him over the course of our relationship. He manipulated me by saying that if I did not want to have sex with him that meant that I wasn't attracted to him or that I didn't love him. It took months after the breakup for me to realize that I had been forced into having sex. It wasn't until over a year later that I remembered him getting me drunk to have sex with me. It was at this time that my therapist helped me to come to terms with the fact that I had not only been coerced but I had also been raped.”