April is about sexual assault awareness, and I want to touch on a side of this that isn’t always spoken on. The falsely accused. The ones who also have their lives displayed and scrutinized. To make it clear I stand for the victims, the wounded, and the ones who through the worst of times stand strong at the end of the day.
The toll any assault can take on someone’s mental health is exhausting, and takes immense resilience to decide to keep going no matter what has happened. I find this resilience to be so powerful and motivating to others and I want to share it with you all.
So as I mentioned I wanted to share a little bit on the other side of sexual assault accusations, how the falsely accused may be impacted, and how detrimental this can be for victims to come forward with their stories. It follows the classic story of “the boy who cried wolf.” When survivors of sexual assault don’t come forward with their truth often times it’s due to the fear of not being believed. To me this is one of the hardest things to hear, It hurts as another human that this is such a prevalent and relevant fear for individuals not to trust that their truths will be heard, believed, and valid.
On the other side of this, the fear of someone falsely accusing you out of spitefulness, revenge, or any reason is also valid. The fear that your truth won’t be heard because often times the accuser is out heard amongst authorities and society.
I think it is of the utmost importance that real abuse is recognized and truth of whoever is heard, listened to and understood. I think a deep fear of humans in general is that we won’t be heard, listened too, validated and believed. This is a very daunting fear that can shape who comes forward about abuse, who is believed and who is found worthy of conviction.
For the month of April take a little extra time to understand the impact that being sexually assaulted and or falsely accused has on your mental and physical health. Share compassion with the people around you and take care of your mental and physical health.
Share your truth. You are valid. You are supported.
Check these links to see someone who is inspiring and resilient beyond measure.
To learn more visit: https://www.nsvrc.org/saam