It sounds crazy but in some way it feels kind of good to write this down here. When I was 14 I knew a Muslim boy in school. He was super sweet and we were really good friends with each other. At one point he wanted to have a relationship with me and he was pretty open about it. I said I’d rather just remain friends but he wasn’t very happy to hear that, then he pushed me against the wall and ran off. A few days later on my way to the bus stop, I saw him standing in the park, which i had to go through to get to the bus, along with 2 other friends. They made a game of it. Disgusting. After it happened, I went home acting like nothing had happened. It took me a year and a half to finally to tell someone about it and when I did it was such a relief. Now 6 years later, I still struggle a lot with what happened. You’re so ashamed and disgusted of yourself, although you know that you couldn’t have done anything about it. It happened once and now I’m slowly starting to put it behind me.
— Naomi, age 21
Dear Naomi – it doesn’t sound crazy that it feels good to write it down. Sharing your story can be very cathartic and I’m glad you found that and grateful that you are sharing it with this community. I’m glad that you know somewhere that what happened isn’t your fault; working to really internalize that will really help you. Probably with a therapist or a counselor. I know you have a beautiful life ahead of you. Keep moving and know that my thoughts are with you!
As a Muslim I would tell you that what happened had nothing to do with him being a Muslim. It’s so shameful that he did this to you even after you were really good friends, you are strong and you survived it. I just need you to know that islam is totally against what he did and that you are brave and strong and you can be something big in the future