Healing after a sexual assault
The summer after high school, I picked up a summer job before leaving for college. I hadn’t been working there long when an older male coworker sexually assaulted me. I felt disgusting and guilty and wanted to escape my feelings of pain and confusion. I didn’t report the assault because I worried I would be blamed for it, and I couldn’t face the pain of the legal process. I just wanted to get through the rest of the summer until I left town.
It was lonely holding on to all of this by myself, but I didn’t know whom to talk to. Finally, after weeks of trying to deal with this anger and fear and not making much progress, I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me. He gave me some comforting spiritual ideas to think about. I told my mom about the situation and also realized I needed to leave the job. So I did.
I was relieved when it was time to head off to college. I felt leaving my hometown meant I could start fresh. I liked that no one on campus knew who I was or what had happened to me and that I didn’t have to talk about it with anyone. However, my first semester was challenging. My grades were poor, my anxiety was high, and I had trouble being around men. I talked to the practitioner each day for spiritual support.
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