Groomed

I was sexually assaulted (SA) at the of 6. This caused a seismic shift in who I was to ultimately become which was not the person that I would have been had the assault not occurred. At the age of 13, I was SA'd by three different men who did not know one another but had one thing in common...they liked having sex with children.

A child cannot give consent for an adult to have sex with them. They lack the maturity to make a decision like that and often have no idea what they're getting into when placed in that situation. Speaking from experience, this can lead to poor social interaction skills, lowered self-esteem and hyper sexuality.

I navigated the landscape that should have been safe for me, but it wasn't. My social awkwardness was blamed on who I thought I really was at the time. I've since come to acknowledge what was taken from me and I am slowly working to rebuild myself from the ground floor up. This has not been easy, but it was necessary to salvage my confidence and humanity while allowing myself the opportunity to grow in a healthy way. But the scars will always be there.

"Groomed" tells my story from beginning to current. It tells my story from the perspective of a 13-year-old victim to a 51-year-old survivor. This is the down and dirty as I recall the trauma that brought me here and shifted my mindset that reminds me that I am so much more than what happened to me. I lived so long in the dark that it became my refuge instead of something that I should be running from. Everyone has a story to tell. This is mine.