One in every 3 women are sexually abused by age 18 (AACC).
Sexual abuse in childhood results in adulthood relational problems, depression, and anxiety. Childhood sexual abuse occurs across all ethnic, racial, socioeconomic and religious lines. A high percentage of women with addiction issues and women who have been incarcerated are survivors.. Childhood sexual abuse is a significant problem world-wide.
The roots of sexual abuse grow into adult problems.
Depression
Abuse victims are more likely to suffer from depression and mood swings.
Low Self Esteem
A common lie of abuse is that the victim is to blame or that they are "bad" or "dirty".
Marriage Problems
Lingering emotions from abuse can make it hard to connect with a spouse.
Anxiety
Worry, stress, and panic can often be directly connected to the wounds inside.
Anger
It's far too easy to misdirect anger from abuse at friends, co-workers, or family.
Relationships
Survivors often choose unhealthy relationships.
Self-Harm
This coping strategy provides brief relief from intense emotions while doing it's own long-term damage.
Drug Addictions
One way to avoid dealing with the pain is to escape this world via chemicals.
There is hope. Recovery is possible.
SOAR has guided women in all walks of life towards recovery.
We've found the following steps to be critical in every recovery process.
Understand the Effects
Recovery begins with understanding the effect abuse has on our life and relationships today; how the shame, guilt, and anger we hide inside seeps out into our everyday lives.
Explore the Memories
It’s important to revisit and explore our memories in order to achieve healing. Revisiting memories is one of the best ways to replace the lies buried deep inside with truth.
Feel & Process The Emotions
Despite many years of passing sometimes we’ve never allowed ourselves to truly feel the hurt & pain. We have to know what you are letting go of before you can forgive & release the pain.
Find Your Voice
Abuse victims often feel they do not have a voice. They have been taught to keep quiet and keep secrets. It's possible to open up, share, and find your voice again.
Replace Lies With Truth
Abuse affects our core beliefs: "I'm bad", "It's my fault", "I'm dirty". These false beliefs result in shame and guilt. We can learn to replace these lies with the truth: we aren't bad or dirty and what happened was not our fault.
Learn to Live Healthy
Emotionally & Spiritually
When we learn to live healthy we like ourselves more, our relationships improve, our shame and guilt fade. This isn't just a pipe dream.
