I wasn’t old. Maybe… 14-16? I remember I went to a camp. A school one, other schools were there too, it’s was an end of the year thing. On the first night I needed to use the restroom, so I left the cabin and walked towards the restrooms. I was about to walk in when a sharp metal knife pressed against my neck and someone’s hand covered my mouth. They pushed me into a trail and onto the ground and proceeded to take my clothes off. When they were done they ran off. No one saw. Or if they did, they didn’t say anything. I grabbed my clothes and put them back on, some were a little ripped but I hoped that in the darkness other people wouldn’t notice. I walked back to my cabin and quietly sobbed. This is the only time I have mentioned this.
— Survivor, age 21
Dear survivor – thank you so much for sharing your story here. I hope that sharing it here provided you some relief; keeping something like this inside for so long can be so difficult. What happened is absolutely not your fault and you did nothing wrong!!!! I would encourage you to talk to someone about what happened. Maybe a friend or family member you trust and/or a therapist? They can help you work through any emotions you’re feeling resulting from what happened. Even if it was a long time ago, it’s not unusual for you to still have emotions around what happened without processing it. But I believe in you. Sending you love, Alexis