Can we please be the generation that stops putting up with the family child molester? The grown uncle who dates teenage girls, the husband who makes uncomfortable comments about young women’s clothing, or the cousin who raises red flags with their behavior towards children but no one wants to talk about all need to go. Children, especially young women, are expected to “keep the family together” by not making a fuss over incredibly traumatic behavior. Children don’t deserve to suffer trauma for adults’ feelings of togetherness. They’re more worthy of protection than predators. A healthy family is not built on the backs of abuse survivors expected to live their lives in silence without justice, support, or protection.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
The man who literally raped my mom before she even hit double digits was allowed access to me and my siblings. Alone. It didn’t end well for me.
And even afterwards, I would run and hide whenever he came to visit and I was scolded and told to show him some affection. He was my grandfather, after all.