Sexual violence

Being sexually abused as a child by another family member

Sexual abuse by a sibling, relative, or other family member during childhood. Often happening in secret, often never spoken about, often carrying shame that was never yours to carry.

If some version of this is part of your story, you already know that the hardest part is rarely the memory itself. It is carrying it in a world that mostly does not want to hear about it. This fellowship exists so you do not have to carry it alone, and so you never have to explain it to someone who has no idea what it means.

What can follow an experience like this

No two people carry the same experience the same way. These are some of the effects that people with this experience often describe. Having some of them, all of them, or none of them says nothing about how real what happened to you was.

Not knowing who you are, or experiencing multiple parts or identities A self that shifts depending on who you are with. Emotions that feel out of control Reactions that feel disproportionate to the situation. Thoughts about not wanting to be here Thoughts about not existing anymore. Becoming whoever someone needs to keep yourself safe When the nervous system learned that the way to survive threat was to appease it, some people learned to become whatever the threatening person needed them to be. Self-harm Self harm is not about wanting to die. Flashbacks and reliving what happened After certain experiences, the brain can get stuck, replaying what happened through flashbacks, nightmares, or sudden intense reactions to things that remind you of it. Clinging or shutting down in relationships Attachment is the system that governs how we connect with other people, how close we let them get, how we respond when they pull away, how we handle being needed. Hypervigilance or always waiting for something bad The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time.

Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.

You do not have to carry this alone.

Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.

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