I had no idea that my friend had been victimized when she was a child. I knew she had some issues she was working through, but I thought it was related to her relationship with her ex-husband. It was such a huge deal for her to stand up in open court and make a public statement about her childhood sexual abuse and the lifelong effects abuse has on someone. Her statement was very moving. Afterward, I was told by the victim advocate that my friends statement was the best one. That it was very moving. It was a personal victory for my friend to talk about her abuse openly.
Since her child was friends with my own kids--who had just heard her story, she now needed to go home and tell her teenager that she was a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Not an easy thing to do. Her support of our family forced her to look at her past abuse more intensely.
The consequences from what Patrick did to our child are so far reaching. The best analogy that I've heard is that the effects of his crimes are like a spider's web. The effects are so interwoven and sticky that they are seemingly impossible to escape.
No comments:
Post a Comment