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DECADES When I was 22 years old, I was on a college campus with my finance and decided to go out to the car at 11 pm to get the left over cake we had brought from dinner. I man walked near me and I said hi, and proceeded to get the cake. The man came up behind me and flipped me to the ground trying to rape me. I screamed, time slowed down and I remember hearing my Mom say that my car keys are a weapon so I started jabbing him with them. I struggled free, ran to a building, falling on my way. A driver arrived who heard my screams from blocks away and the police were called. The police even thought they got him and showed me several photos of similar looking men, but I couldn’t make a positive id, so he was set free. After this sexual assault, I bought a gun, moved in with my fiancé, took self-defense classes, read books, saw a psychologist who diagnosed me with PTSD due to overwhelming anxiety that paralyzed me. The world was no longer safe. It resulted in triggers, and brought back my first sexual assault as a teenager in a crowded bus in another country of an older man pressing his erection against me as I keep moving away from him toward the front of the bus, until I finally found another teenage who I could sit on her lap to get this stranger to stop. It has been 64 years since I was attacked in that parking lot. I have been happily married for 64 years and have a positive self image. BUT, I still can’t wear skirts. I still can’t go in parking lots alone at night and am uneasy going anywhere at night. I can’t watch a movie or play that has sexual assault or the anxiety becomes overwhelming. I still own the same gun.

Name: Triumph Over Tragedy City, GA AIDS survivor and motivational speaker Name has a profound story that heals hearts. As a screenwriter, playwright, poet, Gospel songwriter, and author, she crafts riveting truths about love, life, and relationships, mirroring her trials. Name has faced abuse, addiction, domestic violence, suicide, and sexual assault. At the age of 21, Name was sexually assaulted by a stranger, and ten years later, she was date assaulted by two men she was dating, one of them being one of the assaulters. Despite these hardships, she committed her life to God, becoming celibate in 2000. Diagnosed with HIV in 2010 and progressing to AIDS in 2013, she defied the odds, with her AIDS status having been healed since 2014. Her films, available on Amazon Prime, and her stage play, performed in City, showcase her resilience. Name continues to inspire through her faith, therapy, and the support of her daughters. Follow Name on Instagram and Facebook for more of her inspiring journey. Name is a multitalented speaker, writer, and inventor featured in movies, plays, books, and online articles. Her films feature Hollywood talents such as Robin Givens and Paula Jai Parker. Learn more at [Name's website] (Link).

Hello beautiful souls. I appreciate being able to release the past even more with some of my story. I now see the unhealthy pattern I was living but didn’t understand it at the time. I had been married & divorced at 26, then married & widowed at 29. My first husband was my high school sweetheart who came from a lot of dysfunction & had anger issues. My second husband had been in the Marines for 6 years & came back with PTSD & had a drinking problem. He had gotten married & divorced before we got together. During our marriage I saw his problems with alcohol in a big way. He got physically abusive one evening & I left shortly after. He attempted suicide with over 100 pills & was in a coma for three months before dying. A year later I accepted a job offer & moved from California to Miami. I was 30 & found a wonderful new life & great friends. Five years later I met a professional guy who seemed so wonderful. We married 6 months later & had two daughters within 3 years. I wanted to go back to California where all my family was. He didn’t support that & things went down hill for the next year. He had started drinking a lot. I told him I wanted to separate. One night he came to our bedroom drunk & said he wanted one last “good one” if it was over. He held his fist over my face. The girls were across the hall asleep. I never argued in front of them & didn’t want them to wake up scared if he got crazy so I just gave in. He tried again later that night but finally left when I threatened to contact his father about what he’d done. I had angels all along though. I divorced him & had a wonderful intuitive judge who gave me full custody after a difficult divorce including court ordered counseling. So it’s no wonder I suppose that I haven’t been big on relationships but I do see that I had lots of lessons to learn in this life. Now I’m a Reiki practitioner & have found my purpose & so much healing. I love healing others now & I’m grateful for all the lessons I needed to find my power & my authentic self. I think I’d call it clarity💗

Survivante de viol collectif Je rendis visite a ma tante, un soir des cousins m’invitèrent a aller danser en boite de nuit ; des amis de mes cousins étaient venus nous trouver là, nous avons danser, rit, bu et partager des sandwiches. Vers les couts de trois heures du matin, je sortis pour prendre de l’air quand un des amis me trouva a la porte, il était sorti pour fumer, alors nous avons papoter un moment. Il me proposa de marcher dans les alentours de la discothèque Un autre ami nous rejoignit ensuite un deuxième, et finalement, cinq sans savoir ce qui se tramait entre eux, je les suivis car nous avons été très proches depuis leur venu etc. Arrivée, dans un ravin, un des cinq enleva sa chemise et l’étala sur sa chemise qu’il avait enlevé soi-disant avoir chaud, quand l’autre me terrassait. Avant même que je ne m’en rende compte, ils se sont appelés et sont passer sur moi les uns après les autres. Un a un, ces cinq hommes me sont passer dessus, ils m’ont souillé, ont bafouiller ma dignité de femme et de personne humaine. Malgré mes supplications, mes cris de détresse et désespoir, car oui, chaque coup de rein transperçait ma dignité tel un coup de couteau. Mais aucun, pas un seul d’entre eux n’y a été sensible, personne ne s’est arrêté. Pendant qu’ils s’appelaient, tels des amis qui s’invitent les uns les autres, j’ai réussi a capter quelques prénoms : trois au total parmi les cinq. Du lieu des faits, je me suis rendu a la police, je leur ai expliquer les faits, j’étais a la quête de justice. Mais les quelques questions qui m’ont été posées par la police m’ont encore plus transpercer le cœur… Le policier qui s’occupait de mon écoute me demanda avec des airs menaçants : • -est ce qu’une fille de bonne mœurs peut se trouver au dehors à cette heure ? • C’est arriver où ? • -sais tu que cette tenue que tu portes est provocative ? • -est ce t’as première fois de faire un rapport sexuel ? Je n’en croyais pas mes oreilles, je restais figée et très déterminée je ne me suis pas découragé, j’ai continué la procédure jusqu’à ce que justice soit faite. Le dégoût, ma colère était d’une intensité que je ne saurais nommé. Et pour la première fois, dans ma vie, j’ai compris comment un être humain pouvait ôter la vie à un autre. Parce que oui, je ressentais de la haine, parce que oui, mes bourreaux représentaient un problème dont il fallait que je me débarrasse. Pour ma reconstruction, il a fallu un accompagnement psychologique au niveau des hôpitaux et émotionnel au niveau de la famille et morale dans les groupe de discussion entre survivantes.

When I was 18 and away at my first semester of college I was gang raped at gunpoint. My PTSD started one year later. I had a very difficult time with work and relationships. I was never able to get married or have children.