By Survivor Sheri
**The following is written by a survivor of domestic violence and abuse. Names have been changed to protect all involved.**
The abuse was rather physical, starting at a young age, as early as I can remember. EMDR has taken me back to memories around two-years-old where my dad was physical, large, and just scary.
While he was a very abusive man physically, this is about what he did to me starting at 13. The sexual abuse started off simple when I was just a young woman.
“But it progressed to beyond a living nightmare.”
This man had not only asked me to marry him and be his wife over three times. He also didn’t let me leave after the age of 18 when I tried to move out.
The abuse was more than just inappropriate touches. He made me share a room with him after I turned 16, and I felt life was over then. When he started to make me sleep in his room, he then had full access to me and didn’t have any boundaries.
At all.
The Nightmare Continues
Many days and nights I was stuck at the house. This was for him because he would let others in the family go out and explore life. While I was grounded so he could keep an eye on me.
I was not allowed to talk to boys my age. And if I did, it would make him jealous and angry. Not to mention, I had a constant phone check and had to prove where every text message went.
I won’t go into the detail of the things he did, but he did everything to me that a man should only do with his wife, not his daughter. I was very scared of this man as he spent every moment watching me and what I did.
He even threatened to end both of our lives if I didn’t comply. Which is something all survivors feel or go through.
An Adult
When I turned 18, I left that night and walked from Rio Rancho, NM, to the airport in ABQ, NM. In middle of the night. I was desperate to get out, and he wasn’t going to let me go.
When I arrived at the airport and started begging for money, shortly into the morning, I turned around, and there he was. Walking up to me, taking me back to the car.
I was too scared to scream out from this nightmare.
He was mad at me, and took me back to our home in Rio Rancho where he locked me in his room for 2 weeks. Where I wasn’t allowed to talk to family members, my phone was taken away, and food was served to me.
“At 19, I tried again.”
I begged my mom for help and she took me to the ABQ Greyhound bus station and bought me a ticket. She told me to lay low and be careful and sent me off with a wifi capable phone.
After 32 hours of travel on the bus, I got a call from my mom stating my dad found out and he was on his way. When the bus pulled into the SLC, UT station, he was there, again, to take me back. I tried to fight this time, after he broke a promise.
He told me he wanted to make sure I was safe and promised to go take me to my grandparents. Tired, hungry and needing the ride, I believed him. Instead of going North, he started driving south. I started screaming and he turned up the music, eventually I passed out due to exhaustion and woke up back in NM.
Freedom, Finally
I finally escaped at 21 when we moved to TN and a friend, I met out there understood what I was going through. He helped sneak me out of that house one day, and I left with nothing.
My father found out where I was again and came to kidnap me again. This time, cops were called, and I went in for protection. My father didn’t let me take a single article of clothing at that time when he knew I was officially out of his hands.
For the next few years, I didn’t know how to navigate life, or around my family. I held my story in, carrying shame and guilt for things that were out of my control.
I wanted a family, so I tried to pretend the nightmare things didn’t happen and in 2015 I moved back to UT to be around my family again. When I did this, I couldn’t shake the feeling of discomfort and ick.
I Met Someone
I eventually met a boy who let me move in (because I was broke and living with my family wasn’t working) and started to help me out. We ended up dating and becoming a relationship and having a little boy.
In this time frame, I started making boundaries with my family and telling them who my father was. No one believed me. No one believed the nightmare happened.
In 2020 I woke up one day, it was national siblings’ day, and I was feeling hurt. I was sad they all took his side and that my 5 brothers, mother, and little sister all believed him over me and called me really bad names.
I posted on TikTok about my story, and it started to blow up as many others started to feel a similar way, or went through similar things.
“This was the start of my healing journey.”
I said, I don’t have to feel shame for my past, and I can take control of who I am today. The past doesn’t have to define you, but who you are can be up to you.
While it was and still is hard correcting bad or unwanted habits, I am grateful for who I am now because of the pain I’ve been through. Because of the suffering I endeared for the first 21 years of my life, it has made the 32-year-old woman bright and positive.
Healing Journey
I have spent years in therapy with EMDR, ART, Mindfulness, breath work, and many other courses through the years have gotten me to the warrior I am today.
All in all, I take pride in my story, and I own it. I can’t change what I have been through, but I can make the changes to better my future and be a better mom for my son. After seeing my mother take the abuse from my father, I told myself I would never be like her.
The Nightmare Continued, But I Woke Up
After 10 years of living with my child’s father, I have become stronger and recognized the signs of domestic abuse that I too, was going through.
After years of triggers, and realizing he is like my father, I gained the strength to go off like I needed.
I am now a single mother who loves her son, works with a large corporation in their Behavioral Health division, and creating my own business pathways to help other survivors thrive.
I know the healing journey is hard, and it can be hard to start, but you got this. We all do!
Check These Resources:
- Complete Guide to Mindful Meditation, and Emotional Healing.
- The Hidden Impact of Teen Dating Violence
- Find Support with BTSADV
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