Overcoming Sexual Abuse
By Anne Arouna
Experiencing sexual abuse has to be one of the unhealthiest and unsettling experiences someone can endure.
Overcoming sexual abuse is hard. There is no two ways about it.
Being a victim of sexual abuse in the past myself, it is an area very close to my heart.
There were other abuses I faced including domestic, physical and emotional abuse but sexual abuse called rape affected me the most.
Not everyone experiences the impact of abuse the same way.
In my case, I was young and also in a place where such matter could not be discussed.
And in my case too, it was not an isolated event. I kept my pains and hurts inside and worst of all growing with them.
Mental illness for me is when you keep things bottled inside and cannot voice out your pain. That happened to me. I got terribly depressed.
In your heart, you know that you have to speak up but various factors hold you back. For me, it was tradition and family reputation; these had to be obeyed.
If I voiced out what happened to me, I would be branded and made to feel an outcast. Unfair, right? But the reality.
I suffered from flashbacks and nightmares. The scenes, the violence, the tears, the screams constantly replayed in my mind. Yet I could not say anything for over 40 years. I became a prisoner inside.
I put on a brave face. On the outside, my smile conveyed that I was normal and happy but inside I was burning. Suffering. Hurting!
However, l had lost my self esteem and my self confidence. I had a constant fear of failing. Trying became hard. I became so fearful of the future. In my mind, there was hopelessness and emptiness. I was trapped in my own world.
I believe that like many others who have suffered the pain of sexual abuse, they too have experienced all I have said above; some have more serious difficulties than mine.
Believe me, it can be a struggle to come to terms with the traumas you have endured. Truly, there are deep underlying emotional struggles associated with sexual abuse than physical abuse in my own experience and opinion.
Coming out from this prison world is very difficult until someone helps you to understand that there is a way to unlock the bars by speaking about it.
I personally survived the entire struggle by finding a refuge in the Lord Jesus. I joined a church. I learnt to let go by forgiving those who hurt me.
It is impossible to forgive the perpetrators of hideous acts such as rape naturally. It took the grace of God for me to forgive those who had harmed me.
Understanding the power of love, God’s love was the balm that gave me the freedom I had always longed for.
Love is a divine law. God is Love. When someone loves you and encourages you, it goes a long way in helping you move on, in healing wounds that refuse to heal!
God’s love did that for me. I experienced the Love of God in such an inexplicable way. I realized this Love was unconditional.
It was not based on how good or not I was as a person in anyone’s eyes, including myself. This Love helped a lot. It works for me up to this day, and will it work for anyone. Why?
Because the mind adapts fast to love.
To be continued…
Anne Arouna is the author of forthcoming book, the Power of the Promise. A book on her life of the abuse she endured for many years, and her walk to freedom in overcoming the trauma.
About The Author
Thank you for sharing your story.
Glad you have been able to find comfort in God and been able to get to a point of forgiveness and healing to help others who have been through something similar. I take great comfort in that, and hope that one day I too can be brave and strong like you.
Abuse was normal for me, I didn’t know it was wrong, I thought it was love. I was abused in Gods name, so I find it very difficult still to get an understanding of things, I find myself putting my head in the sand and surviving rather than living.
You have given me hope, Thank you
I hope you too find peace Angela from the horrible traumas you have been through. Thanks for sharing. Glad that Anne’s story has given you hope
Thank you for sharing your story! Jesus is the Master Healer and I have found in my own healing that only by God’s grace can one’s heart be healed at its deepest depths. It is a grace and it’s hard to be vulnerable but that’s what it takes! I was fortunate to find a good spiritual director in conjunction with individual therapy, and I was more vulnerable during spiritual direction only because I knew that Jesus already knew everything about me and by voicing my hurt and pain, he was able to heal me in ways no therapy alone could reach! Be at peace and trust that Jesus knows everything and loves you no matter what.