The trauma of childhood sexual abuse doesn’t stop after the act itself. The effects of sexual abuse can linger for years, debilitating victims throughout their lives and well into adulthood, according to experts. The anti-sexual violence organization RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and the Let Go…Let Peace Come In Foundation are two organizations that each year work with survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault in the US. Many sexual abuse survivors will spend their lives one way or another coping with the repercussions of the sexual violations inflicted upon them as children.  READ MORE HERE

A daughter forced to act as her father’s ‘wife’ has waived her right to anonymity to help other abuse victims. Emma Frost, 22, was left devastated after suffering a decade of sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Now, after seeing him jailed for life, she is taking the brave step of sharing her story in the hopes she can help others who have suffered a similar plight. Emma, from Clacton, Essex, says: ‘I stayed silent for years because I thought nobody would believe me.  READ MORE HERE

THE thought of thousands of Jamaican children living the nightmare of sexual abuse has motivated three adults, scarred by this horrific act, to share their stories with the hope that the victims can be rescued.  The three — a man and two women — decided to speak after reading an April 1 Sunday Observer article in which Dr Sandra Knight painted a gruesome picture of abuse of Jamaican children, including four-year-old girls she has treated for gonorrhoea, a nine-year-old boy who was raped by his mother’s pastor, and an 18-month-old boy who died after being buggered by an uncle. READ MORE HERE

While social media has been a useful tool for connecting with lost relatives, one Philadelphia software salesman used a missing child website to stumble across his own past. As reported by CBS News earlier this week, a Philadelphia man named Steve Carter discovered his own baby picture on a site designed to help reunite missing children with their parents. Carter was adopted at age four from an orphanage in Honolulu, Hawaii, but details prior to that time didn’t add up for him. READ MORE HERE

PHILADELPHIA — A young man told a jury in a criminal priest-abuse case Wednesday that he was sexually assaulted as an altar boy by two Philadelphia priests and that he soon turned to drugs for relief. The witness, a policeman’s son, said he started smoking marijuana the summer he turned 11 to deal with the abuse, and has since tried drug treatment 23 times to battle addictions to heroin, painkillers and other drugs. READ MORE HERE

Jamie was ten years old when he saw his first pornographic sex scene. During a sleepover, a classmate offered to show him ‘some funny pictures’ on his laptop. ‘At first I found it a bit scary and a bit yucky,’ Jamie told me as he shifted uncomfortably on his chair during our therapy session. ‘I didn’t know it was possible for people to do those sort of things — and there were lots of nasty close-ups. But it gave me funny feelings and the pictures started to stick in my head.’  READ MORE HERE

Bethany Loerke, 20, was abused by Doctor James Loerke from age of 5

A young woman who suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of her adoptive father has courageously revealed her identity to help other victims.  Bethany Loerke, 20, spent her early childhood in the foster care system before being adopted by a doctor and his wife, a nurse, to be raised with their three biological children. However behind the facade of a privileged upbringing, Miss Loerke was sexually assaulted by the man who was supposed to protect her from the age of five.  READ MORE HERE

“My father was a handsome, intelligent man,” recalls Marilyn Van Derbur. “He served as president of the Denver Area Boy Scout Council and helped establish Denver’s Cleo Wallace Village for Handicapped Children. But there was another—secret—side to him. From the time I was 5 until I was 18 and moved away to college, my father sexually violated me.”  READ MORE HERE

Internet trolls trying to discourage campaign against sex abuse

Paedophiles are trying to close down a Facebook page set up by the mother of murdered schoolgirl  Sarah Payne to help child abuse victims. They are placing disgusting posts showing they know the name of many of her supporters, including some who have been targeted by perverts. Ms Payne, 43, became a tireless campaigner on child abuse issues after her eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered by pedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.  READ MORE HERE

READ MORE BELOW:

THE mum of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne is sickened at how Britain’s pedophile problem is spiraling out of control.

Kendrick was 9 when a 41-year-old relative asked her a poignant question, “Can you keep a secret?” That secret included rape, unwanted touching and sodomy. The abuse went on for six years. Sometimes her family wasn’t at home. Other times her brother and sister were outside playing.Her demeanor changed.  READ MORE HERE

Statistics show that over 80% of boys and men do not come forward about abuse out of fear and shame. Patrick Dati was one of those statistics, but after years of depression and attempts with suicide, he has decided to tell his story. Patrick is an active speaker and public advocate for several anti-child abuse and anti-bullying organizations, such as National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse and RAINN-Rape, the Abuse & Incest National Network. He was also recently chosen by the SAMHSA/U.S. Department of Human Services as a spokesperson for their 2012 National Trauma Campaign. He has appeared on “WGN News,” “ABC 7 News”, NBC 5 News”, and numerous radio talk shows. Patrick speaks publicly to promote education and awareness about the serious issues of child sexual abuse, and to help others break their silence regarding bullying. READ MORE HERE

I was forced to marry at FIVE – while living in UK: Horrific story of the British child bride

Victim tells how her childhood was shockingly ended by the ceremony she mistook for a birthday party
Forced abroad to live with her husband in Pakistan, she suffered years of abuse before finally finding the strength to seek a divorce
Now a successful entrepreneur, she wants to show girls in her position there is light at the end of the tunnel

A successful businesswoman has told of her agony after being forced into an abusive marriage at the age of five – despite living in Britain.  Samina Shah, who is now in her 40s and too frightened to reveal her real name, spoke out after revelations that Britain’s Forced Marriage Unit had handled the case of another five-year-old girl last year. READ MORE HERE

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World turning blind eye to 10 million child brides each year