The following statement, while sad and provocative, is unfortunately true: nearly one in five women (43%) and one in four men (24%) reading this blog have been sexually abused. If you find yourself in one of those percentages, you understand what it feels like to struggle with your sexual well-being. The violation of your betrayed sexuality can affect your sex life for years to come, not to mention how you perceive yourself as a sexual being. Are you always doomed to feel low and disgraceful because of what you have suffered? No. There is evidence of hope, restoration and an opportunity to have your sex positivity renewed.
Fast forward to being in a loving relationship, feeling emotionally and mentally strong and envisioning being sexually satisfied and erotically engaged. This relationship feels safe and secure enough to share your feelings of desire towards your partner. To your dismay, your partner is not expressive with his/her sexual overtures and you feel rejected and unsure of yourself. In contrast, you notice that with this newfound sense of sensuality, you are receiving attention from people who find your sex appeal emanating from your pores and approachable. However, these advances feel threatening, unsafe and violative. What just happened? This sense of violation is a direct correlation to the shame you experienced for attempting to approach your safe place with your desires.
When you have a partner that has sexual abuse in their history, you need to be aware that shame is ever present and tiresome for their emotional and mental well-being. The sense that you can be the place where they feel open, loved and erotic is a huge risk for them. If it is not in your natural inclination to express sexuality, that is fair. But remember, all relationships require levels of accommodation for each other. Dirty talk may not be comfortable for you, but perhaps a few simple words, such as, “I desire you as well,” can be enough. Figure out a way to understand the wounds of your partner and be a compassionate place of safety for them to thrive in their sexuality.
It can be a lifelong challenge to feel sexual safety after abuse. And with the alarmingly high numbers of survivors, you are in good but wounded company. Support groups and therapy can be a fresh start to sexual healing. Feeling paralyzed by catcalls, expectations of sexual experiences that leave you feeling open and ashamed and the general weariness of being asked for parts of you that negate the whole of you, can be dealt with in proper, therapeutic care. Allow yourself to be free to express your sensuality and to feel sexy from the perspective of worthiness, not shame. There is a bridge of hope that you can walk over to get to a place where the beauty of eroticism can live and be expressed.