In later years I developed an awareness of a similar phenomenon in victims of childhood sexual abuse: most of them suffer from agonizing shame about the actions they took to survive and maintain a connection with the person who abused them. This was particularly true if the abuser was someone close to the child, someone the child depended on or looked up to, as is so often the case. The result can be confusion about whether one was a victim or a willing participant, which in turn leads to bewilderment about the difference between love and terror, pain and pleasure.<\/p>\n
This was true for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In later years I developed an awareness of a similar phenomenon in victims of childhood sexual abuse: most of them suffer from agonizing shame about the actions they took to survive and maintain a connection with the person who abused them. This was particularly true if the abuser was someone close to the child, someone … <\/p>\n