Mar

At thirteen, she was repeatedly sexually abused by the son of her father's girlfriend. Her mother believed her and helped protect her. Her father supported the person who had abused her.

During the court process, she had to give her account while seeing him beside his mother. Even after he was charged, her father brought photographs of him, talked about him and moved back into that household. He later married the boy's mother. She spent years trying to be heard and eventually moved out for her own safety.

Later, she learned that extended family members had been led to believe the abuse was consensual. She was called dramatic and argumentative. Having to defend what happened became another burden alongside the abuse itself.

She writes poetry and makes art, and has worked to help others through healthcare, education and advocacy. She cares deeply about kindness, but does not pretend she can step outside her story or that its effects have ended. She wants people to understand how profoundly she was changed, and how much it mattered that one parent believed her while the other did not protect her.