Episode 12- Tell Someone!

'Trigger Warning' if you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse please remember the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre 24-Hour Helpline 1800 77 8888

In today’s podcast we will be discussing the importance of taking that first step on the road to healing from childhood sexual abuse, disclosure. 

We are all too aware of how difficult telling someone about your experience of sexual abuse is and understand that very often it can feel more like a confession than the reporting of a crime. However, the truth is, telling your story will allow you to say out loud, probably for the first time, exactly who is responsible and it will provide you with the opportunity to see how you were a victim and in no way responsible for anything that happened to you.

We all disclosed at different times and to different people when we were young, a doctor, a priest and a friend all to no avail. It took us many years after that to take the chance to speak up again, and to be honest, if our hand had not been forced, we don’t know if we would still be holding onto the secret today.

We can all say that the holding onto the secret of our abuse left us all merely existing trying to get by with no real sense of joy or happiness. We also know that disclosing our story happened over a long time and in stages as remembering the full extent of our abuse in one go is not the way it tends to happen.

We hope that sharing our experience will help everyone understand the importance of encouraging and supporting disclosure and ensure the relevant supports are put in place when they do.

Please share and spread the word……

Take care

Joyce, June and Paula