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Teenage Survivors
If you are a teenager and have been sexually assaulted:
- You may feel frightened and humiliated.
- You may fear that if you tell your parents, they may try to limit your activities in an attempt to protect you.
- If you were assaulted when breaking a school rule, like skipping class, you may be afraid of getting in trouble over the rule violation.
- If you were assaulted when breaking a parental or house rule, like breaking curfew or drinking alcohol, you may be afraid of getting in trouble also.
- You may be afraid of harassment at school if your peers know you were assaulted.
- You may worry that your family or friends will create more stress for you by threatening retaliation against your assailant.
- If you were assaulted by someone you know, or someone trusted by your family, you may be afraid that your family/friends will doubt what you tell them.
- If you were assaulted by a friend or a date, you may feel pressure from friends who don't want you to get the assailant in trouble.
Things you need to know right away
Any sexual activity forced on you against your will is a crime. It may be called rape, molestation, child sexual abuse, date rape, dating violence, etc. What happened was not your fault, whether you were assaulted by a stranger or by someone you know, or even if you were doing something you knew was risky, such as sneaking out of the house to go to the party.
It is very important that you get medical care as soon as possible. You may have things wrong that you can't feel right now. It is wise to let someone you trust know what happened; it can help a lot to talk about your feelings. Remember that you are not alone. It is estimated that one-third of all young people in the United States are sexually assaulted by the time they are eighteen. This could be by a stranger, an acquaintance, a date, or a relative. And many young people are abused in relationships.
Perhaps the most difficult form of sexual abuse to talk about is incest. Nobody talks about it, but it can happen in any family. The offender can be a father, step-father, uncle, older sibling, or other family member. Both girls and boys can be victims of incest. If incest is happening to you, you may be afraid that reporting it will create further problems at home, maybe even breaking up your family. A counselor can answer your questions about this and help you figure out what to do. As a teenager, you may have a lot of pressure on you. Try and concentrate on one thing: you have been hurt and you need help. The person who hurt you is responsible for what he/she did, not you. You may be worried about other people or concerned about protecting them, but right now your needs are more important than anything else.
Remember
- You aren't to blame for what happened
- There are people who will believe you
- There are people who want to help
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