For survivors telling our story is an important part of the healing process. The pictures we have posted here not only represent the unfathomable number of those that were affected by childhood sexual abuse, but they also represent a community of people who are dedicated to supporting the healing and recovering journey. Please join us by submitting a picture and caption that you are comfortable sharing.
Your submissions can be scanned or e-mailed to
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or you can mail them to the address listed on the contact page.
(we will return original photos upon request)
"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it."~Tori Amos
MEN AND WOMEN OF STRENGTH AND COURAGE TO RECOVER, HEAL, AND TO EDUCATE THE WORLD ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE TO AN ADULT'S LIFE.
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012- Eva W (United States) |
I felt as if my life had no value, as up to that point it consisted of being ill in hospitals, and men pawing at me. I can remember telling my mother that when I saw the future all I saw was a blackness, a long dark black tunnel. I was a shell. A shell in which doctors poked at as they tried to figure out what was wrong with me, and then men grabbed at for their own pleasure. |
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011 - Alaina (United States) |
 There is a hole in my chest that cannot be forgotten, a tearing beneath where no eyes can see. She was just a little blued-eyed four-year-old daydreaming about a crown of daises in her blonde hair, a long white gown, and prince charming waiting for her, fighting for her honor. Violation strikes; blood, semen, tears, innocence cast off! Years of sexual slavery, bondage awaits her. Where is her savior? Where is prince charming? Where is her protection? Where is that pure little girl full of life, hope, and love? Lost forever! Gone is my virginity, my childhood, my view of a good world, my sanity, and my desire to live; gone is myself. Buried beneath a score of abuse in every form; shackles suffocate my ravenous frame. “Unearth me. Unearth me, oh, please!” |
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010 - Rachel N (United States) |
 When I look at this picture, I can see how young I was. It is so clear now that he was a man and I was a young girl. I was 14, and just got my braces off. He was almost 25, and in Graduate School. When he told me that I was "special," that was his entrance into his Magic Kingdom. His Magic Kingdom which nurtured his desire, fed by his need to overpower, manipulate, con and corrupt a young innocent girl. I was incredibly needy for attention and affection and I frighteningly and blindly trusted him-----just because he told me that I was "special". How many other girls my age had an older "boyfriend" who was a model? I MUST have been something special! |
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009- Margie M (United States) |
I was 13. It was Solemn Communion Day, the first time I'd ever worn a store bought dress, nylons and a garter belt. I swirled into the kitchen to show it off. My mother grabbed the dress, pulled it up to expose my undergarments, saying, "Look Bernie, our little girl is growing up." The look on my father's face frightened me. I pulled away and, an incredibly modest young lady, sobbed fitfully as I ran to my bedroom. A few weeks later my father entered my bedroom where I slept with a rosary under my pillow and raped me. When my mother discovered my father's nighttime raids she blamed me and had my father beat me with his belt as punishment, setting off five years of sexual, physical and mental abuse that only ended when I ran away from home.
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008- Morris J (United States) |
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 Children need love; they naturally seek it out. Children have a natural desire for security from those with authority. Child sexual abuse confounds the child's mind so badly to the point where it may take many years to finally come to terms with the event. It took me over 30 years after the first event. The first abuse took place when I was 4 years old, the 2nd time 9 years old, and then between the ages of 9 - 13.
I am a human being moving forward, one day at a time. |
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007- Annie B (United States) |
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 I was nine years old when this picture was taken. By that time, I had been involved in years of sexual activity with adults and older children, and while I knew how to please someone sexually, I hadn't yet learned long division at school. I silently hoped someone would see in my eyes what I could not say, what i didn't have words for. No one ever did, so I carried it alone.
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006- Paul F. (United States) |
 I was 12 when I took this picture. I wanted to see if the feelings of shame were visible on the outside. The abuse happened over the course of a few years. I don't remember how many times. I have never trusted anyone or had a close friend since. I was sexually abused again at the age of 16 by a Sunday school teacher. I have kept silent until I reached my 50s where depression and addiction filled my life. |
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005- Jeff D. (United States) |
An older, stronger, neighborhood boy. One solitary memory. Is it real? Was it abuse? Was there more? Why I may never know...But it was real. I wanted to be accepted and loved at any cost...my being, my soul...The shame, the sadness, the desparation, the silence....no child should ever know.
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Photo and Caption