‘I do not call myself a victim or a survivor’: reflections from the other side of abuse
by Adrienne Action
09th Feb 2022
09th Feb 2022
Unsplash
She does not call herself a victim or a survivor. She refuses to wear a label, but Adrienne Acton took back her power after finding solace at the rape crisis centre, where people understood her anger. Not only her anger at ‘him’, but her anger at her mother and at herself.
Some will say that they are a victim of sexual abuse. Some prefer to say they are a survivor. I refuse to wear a label of any kind. I simply put the blame back where it belonged and reclaimed my life. I wasn’t a child defending myself, I was a strong independent woman defending the child I once was. That made the playing field much more even. The feelings of guilt that hang over your...
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