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National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
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CSA Survivor Force
The mission of CSA Survivor Force is to provide factual information about child sexual abuse (CSA) in a gripping manner to all forms of mass media to inform and educate large populations, reduce the stigma to discuss the topic, and affect change in individual and societal behaviors, policies and procedures across the U.S. and the world. |
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Child sexual abuse can be prevented and treated with a conscious and sustained effort.
Member - CSA Survivor Force:
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Brittany Laney |
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Brittany Laney - Ohio based activist
brittanylaney38@yahoo.com
419 / 366-8142
www.facebook.com/brittany.laney
My name is Brittany and I am a survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse. I thought I was alone in being a victim, and that this hadn't happened to anyone else, ever. My life was stolen from me starting at just 8 years old, a life which I will never get another chance to re-live.. because I will never be a child again. |
Through the years, as my victimhood progressed from one person to another, I kept my secret locked away and didn't know what to do with it. I developed many destructive behaviors as a child and teenager.
None of it made sense. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I thought I was the problem, I was the one to blame.
I spent my whole life going from counselor to counselor, Doctor after Doctor. I had various behavior problems and no one knew what to do with me. My voice was never heard. Suspension after suspension ensued.. then expulsion.
Finally I was home-schooled at 12, and that began the worst nightmare of my life. I experienced many detention home stays. It was terrible. Even at 17 I still didn't know what was wrong with me. |
At 15 I'd been placed with a neighbor who'd never dealt with such things or a person like me. Her young children are today the most important people in my life, my brothers, my everything.. and the only thing that has kept me alive this long. They became my hope and biggest strength. I thought I'd never figure out what I'd done or what was wrong with me. But after residential and foster care things started to get better, and I made great strides in life for the first time. I emancipated several months after my 18th Birthday.
I did well at first, then not so well, because of the psychological effects I had developed, but I started to understand things at 19 years old. I did intense trauma-based therapy, the hardest thing I've ever had to do. As I started to figure myself out I understood I wasn't alone, and that I wasn't the only one this had happened to.
At nearly 21 years old, I somedays feel as if my voice still doesn't matter, but I just continue to keep moving along, taking one day at a time.
After learning more about this horrific act, and after finding out one of my perpetrators was out of prison and living a street away from me, I was fueled by anger. I knew I had to do something. He wasn't registered in this county, so no one knew about him, and I had to do what I had could to get the word out warning the community of his presence. But I battled alone.
I am certain my story can help save someone else's life, and that is why I am advocating and bringing more awareness to these horrific acts and the many related issues that no one talks about!
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