I'm finding the constant news coverage of assorted sexual abuse stories really difficult. I think it hit me most noticeably when I was reading about Hadush Kebatu trying to kiss a 14yo girl, and making sexually explicit comments to her, because I remember being 14 and having adult men make sexually explicit comments to me. And I remember being 16 and being pushed up against a wall in broad daylight in town and forcibly kissed by a middle aged man who used to frequent the cafe where I worked. And so many similar events that I just accepted as a slightly shitty but normal part of life that I expect most women on here will have experienced. But seeing it described as "sexual assault" on the news has opened up a box of feelings that I didn't want opening, and now I feel sort of angsty and unsettled, and keep remembering different events from decades ago that I thought I had forgotten about. I find myself snapping at the DC for minor things and I think it's because I have this rumbling low-level unease and anger at realising that some of the things that happened to me were also assault. The obvious answer, I realise, is to stop watching the news! But the box has been opened now and it's a bit too late to try and shove everything back in.
I don't even know what my AIBU is - I suppose AIBU to be affected so strongly by stories about strangers in the news? But moreso, can anyone else relate to feeling like this??