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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Not sure what I should do?? TRIGGER WARNING for child sexual abuse [title edited by MNHQ]

4 replies

princesscallie · 24/07/2017 18:32

Okay firstly I apologise as I know this will be a long post...

Last summer my little girl was playing with my cousins little boy and I caught him poking her in the bum. She is 2 years younger than him and he had told her to get up on a bed and took down her pants and shorts and was poking her in her bum. I called his mam to show her what I had found and promptly took my daughter and left. The mam called to apologise and was very upset over it. I said we'd forget about it and left it at that. Since then we've had no contact with either. I didn't tell my husband as I knew he would have gone mental about it all so kept it to myself but vowed that I would never leave my daughter alone with said child again.

Anyway fast forward a year and we have just had a family wedding. Coming up to the wedding I was apprehensive as there have been other issues within the family and we are not on great terms. But whilst thinking abut what happened to my child last year memories of my own childhood have come flooding back. Basically my cousin who was 13years older than me used to make myself and my other cousin who was the same age as me take down our pants and pretend that we were having sex. We were around 10 or 11 at the time and he was 25. He used to make my brother and my other cousin do it too. He also used to show us porn movies and talk about them with us.

Another time my cousin who was my age made my pull down my pants and he pushed me down beside a bed and climbed up on me and rubbed himself against me. I can vividly remember his breath and wanting to cry at the time.

I have buried these memories for almost 20years now but I can't seem to make them go away this time. I had a few drinks too many and had words with some family members but I can't really remember what I said. I know I know I shouldn't have drank so much but was an awkward wedding.

Anyway my older cousin who used to instigate the above behaviour is now deceased so I'm not sure what I'll gain form making these things public except casuing a massive family row and also devastating my parents especially my mother. She never trusted my older cousin at all and itd kill her to know she was right.

So I suppose what I'm asking is was this sexual abuse and what should (if anything) I do? I think the fact I have 2 daughters now is a huge factor in all this coming back up.

OP posts:
Ellisandra · 24/07/2017 18:55

I'm really sorry you were sexually abused as a child, and by more than one person. Please, seek counselling.

It sounds like your family was / is rife with abuse, and abuse is a horribly vicious circle. So my first thought was that your cousin's boy (who assaulted your daughter) has been abused too. What he did was wrong, but someone is probably also abusing him. I would speak to the NSPCC urgently for advice about that.

Well done for protecting your daughter Flowers

As to this family wedding?
I would get a counsellor first so that you have real life support for this, and then tell your mother that you were abused by family members and that you are trying to work through that in counselling, and as a result you do not want to go to the wedding.

If you can't face fallout out yet, accept the invitation then have food poisoning on the day.

If long term there's a rift - so be it. You are better off without people who collude with abusers.

Flowers
princesscallie · 24/07/2017 20:48

Thanks for your reply @Ellisandra. .

So it was sexual abuse then. I guess I've never been a victim before so I would struggle to cope with that now. My girls are my world and i would do anything to protect them. So it was an easy decision for me.

The wedding has already happened. But I'm definitely going to look into getting a counsellor and discussing my issued with them.

OP posts:
pocketsaviour · 24/07/2017 20:54

She never trusted my older cousin at all and itd kill her to know she was right.

Are you sure about this? Would it actually validate her instincts?

I strongly believe that the truth will set you free, it certainly has for me as an abuse survivor.

princesscallie · 24/07/2017 22:07

@pocketsaviour I think it would. She would be kicking herself that she left me alone with him. Although to be fair we were left in the care of my aunt. When I look back now my older cousin wasn't 100% but none of his immediate family would ever admit that. He had a very childlike mind but they thought he was hilarious. Little did they know...his niece (my cousin who was made do things with my brother) was also abused by another uncle on the other side of the family and I'm now wondering when it all came out about that how she never mentioned anything about this.

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