Here lately, we have heard of many people SPEAKing about their experience of sexual assault. So many people in the news and on social media are being outed as sexual offenders. This has enable many individuals to receive the closure they needed from the justice system. However, a side effects is that is opens up the wounds of those pains and emotions that were repressed as a coping mechanism.
Sexual assault, whether it happens in childhood or as an adult, has effects that last long past the end of the event. Some of these effects are depression, anxiety, paranoia, nightmares, wounded self-worth, somatic disorders, and sexual dysfunction. Knowing this, it is important to have an organization that focuses on the healing aspect.
My healing journey began the day I agreed to prosecute my assailant. Although I would love to say the healing is complete, it is not. Sexual assault causes changes in the soul that affect every aspect of life after that event. Even as a repressed memory, sexual assault affected my choices related to romantic relationships, responses to life’s experiences, and what I believed about myself. I thought I had healed because I was able to SPEAK about the sexual assault without feeling any emotions. This was far from the truth.
When I reached 40 years of age, I was awakened to a new vision of healing that involved healing the wounds created in all areas of my life as a result of the beliefs and thoughts developed because of my experiences of sexual assault, domestic violence, and emotional/mental abuse. This involved being brutally honest with myself and admitting that I was not totally healed. I had to learn to forgive and love myself unconditionally and despite any flaws I may have identified. Constantly, I had to evaluate every belief I had about everything and decide if it was one worth keeping because it awakened my inner power or if it needed to be discarded because it hindered my healing journey.
This journey was possible because I had an amazing support system. Having a support system is not always true for most people who have had the experience of such abuses and violence. I created I SPEAK FOXYE on Facebook and Instagram to foster that much needed support for the many who are making the choice to heal.
Healing does not mean forgetting. It neither means that you will never have any symptoms of these horrible experiences. Healing means you are willing to remove the bandages to these unhealed wounds and do the work it takes to allow them to heal from the inside out. Scars are reminders that healing is taking place…and must continue.