Research reviewed as part of a rapid evidence assessment shows that being a victim and survivor of CSA is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes in all areas of victims and survivors’ lives. Additionally, long-term longitudinal research suggests that – in many cases – these adverse outcomes are not just experienced over the short and medium term following abuse, but instead can endure over a victim and survivor’s lifetime.
What he did to me affected my whole life, every relationship, my personal identity and the general trajectory of my life’s path. Childhood sexual abuse manifested in all aspects of my life.
The effects of what happened have stayed with me, un-dealt with and unprocessed, throughout my life. The damage from my early years has coloured everything else at all stages of my life. I know it sounds dramatic but I’m just telling it like it is.