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Am I under-reacting after he ignored my request to use a condom?

105 replies

Happyduck77 · 04/09/2026 15:55

So things finished with my situationship late last year. He ended it. It was awful timing. I wasn't a really bad place. Ive been doing therapy for other stuff, going to a life coach etc. Really working on myself and getting back into exercise and trying to love myself. This guy has kept coming back over and over. Its a very long story. Weve seen each other 2 times in last few months and most recently slept together. I told him he would have to wear a condom as i was no longer taking contraceptives, he said he'd just have to be careful and he pulled out. Im not worried about pregnancy as im late 40's and it wasn't the right time of the month. I just cant seem to get mad that he did this. Whats wrong with me? Do I think so little about myself. Was it really that bad? Im not even thinking about STI's- again, what is wrong with me?? I reckon im in some sort of trauma bond and ive worked so bloody hard to pick myself up after an emotionally abusive marriage and now this guy. Am I under reacting? I dont trust myself with this guy at all

OP posts:
selffellatingouroborosofhate · 05/09/2026 18:55

JeanSimmons · 05/09/2026 18:33

I am trying and failing to envisage the situation as you describe. Unless he literally jumped on top of her, there was time for her to say no. That said, I certainly agree that she needs to stay far away from him, he sounds horrid. I just don't think that it is worth reporting this incident to the police.

OP has described dissociating during the event. She froze and wasn't really there. And during that time, instead of saying "hey love, you've gone a bit glassy-eyed, are you OK?", he put his dick in her, assuming that his "I'll pull out" has been accepted without any confirmation from her.

The Freedom Programme plus my reading around the traits of predatory men and their victims tell me that he selected her for his "situationship" because she has poor boundaries, poor red flag detection, and will freeze, flop, or fawn when scared instead of fighting or fleeing.

Read what she wrote: "I froze. I didn't feel like I was really there. I was worried id piss him off."

She froze, she fawned to avoid his potential angry outburst, she disassociated. Her fawning after he'd entered her does not constitute retroactive consent to him entering her.

I'm not teling her to go to the police. In her case, I would recommend against that. A police report would cause her a pile of hassle only for the CPS to "no-case" it or a jury to acquit. As you are demonstrating with your comments, a juror uninformed about trauma would fail to recognise his selection of a traumatised woman as being deliberate. A juror would mistake his refusal of her boundaries for the counteroffer it was disguised as. A juror would fail to recognise that he should have asked her "is that OK?" and waited for her answer. A juror would hear the defence barrister saying "she said yes later on" and mistake that as being freely-given and retroactive. OP does not need that hassle and retraumatisation in her life.

I am telling OP that she needs to take steps to harden herself against this kind of man. She needs therapy for her marriage. She needs trauma therapy. She needs to take boundary training, such as the Freedom Programme.

RedToothBrush · 05/09/2026 18:57

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 05/09/2026 18:55

OP has described dissociating during the event. She froze and wasn't really there. And during that time, instead of saying "hey love, you've gone a bit glassy-eyed, are you OK?", he put his dick in her, assuming that his "I'll pull out" has been accepted without any confirmation from her.

The Freedom Programme plus my reading around the traits of predatory men and their victims tell me that he selected her for his "situationship" because she has poor boundaries, poor red flag detection, and will freeze, flop, or fawn when scared instead of fighting or fleeing.

Read what she wrote: "I froze. I didn't feel like I was really there. I was worried id piss him off."

She froze, she fawned to avoid his potential angry outburst, she disassociated. Her fawning after he'd entered her does not constitute retroactive consent to him entering her.

I'm not teling her to go to the police. In her case, I would recommend against that. A police report would cause her a pile of hassle only for the CPS to "no-case" it or a jury to acquit. As you are demonstrating with your comments, a juror uninformed about trauma would fail to recognise his selection of a traumatised woman as being deliberate. A juror would mistake his refusal of her boundaries for the counteroffer it was disguised as. A juror would fail to recognise that he should have asked her "is that OK?" and waited for her answer. A juror would hear the defence barrister saying "she said yes later on" and mistake that as being freely-given and retroactive. OP does not need that hassle and retraumatisation in her life.

I am telling OP that she needs to take steps to harden herself against this kind of man. She needs therapy for her marriage. She needs trauma therapy. She needs to take boundary training, such as the Freedom Programme.

Edited

Good response.

The OP needs to understand she WAS raped. And that her reaction is in line with this. And she needs to reassess relationships through this lens. Certainly she needs to block this creep immediately and never see him again.

Happyduck77 · 05/09/2026 19:27

RedToothBrush · 05/09/2026 18:57

Good response.

The OP needs to understand she WAS raped. And that her reaction is in line with this. And she needs to reassess relationships through this lens. Certainly she needs to block this creep immediately and never see him again.

Thanks for your response. At the start of the relationship he broke another boundary. He did anal straight to vaginal. I blamed him having to many beers. I totally froze on that occasion and then felt panicky and sick and came home the next day to have a bath. Ive tried my best to move past this. I was starving for attention after an awful marriage and ive clung to this guys breadcrumbs for dear life. Ive been trying so hard to increase my self esteem. Im really trying, rhen this happens. I just want to blank it out. Ive had an awful time in an abusive marriage and just wanted some happiness - i feel like I want to just move on from all this and not be a victim. Im going to follow the advice in this thread. Thanks everyone

OP posts:
selffellatingouroborosofhate · 05/09/2026 19:46

Happyduck77 · 05/09/2026 19:27

Thanks for your response. At the start of the relationship he broke another boundary. He did anal straight to vaginal. I blamed him having to many beers. I totally froze on that occasion and then felt panicky and sick and came home the next day to have a bath. Ive tried my best to move past this. I was starving for attention after an awful marriage and ive clung to this guys breadcrumbs for dear life. Ive been trying so hard to increase my self esteem. Im really trying, rhen this happens. I just want to blank it out. Ive had an awful time in an abusive marriage and just wanted some happiness - i feel like I want to just move on from all this and not be a victim. Im going to follow the advice in this thread. Thanks everyone

There were probably earlier boundary violations, smaller ones, that you either failed to notice or were in denial about.

Your idea of "normal partner behaviour" will have been warped by your marriage. Likewise your idea of how love should feel for you has been warped by your marriage. Excitement and fear feel physically the same and you'll have been so used, for so long, to carrying on as if everything's fine in situations where it really isn't that it feels normal.

Again:

  • Celibacy.
  • Therapy.
  • Freedom Programme.

A furry pet can be really helpful with resetting your idea of how love should feel, like cosy slippers, not a dance barefoot on hot coals.

Mulledjuice · 06/09/2026 10:06

Happyduck77 · 05/09/2026 19:27

Thanks for your response. At the start of the relationship he broke another boundary. He did anal straight to vaginal. I blamed him having to many beers. I totally froze on that occasion and then felt panicky and sick and came home the next day to have a bath. Ive tried my best to move past this. I was starving for attention after an awful marriage and ive clung to this guys breadcrumbs for dear life. Ive been trying so hard to increase my self esteem. Im really trying, rhen this happens. I just want to blank it out. Ive had an awful time in an abusive marriage and just wanted some happiness - i feel like I want to just move on from all this and not be a victim. Im going to follow the advice in this thread. Thanks everyone

oh @Happyduck77 you poor dear love. you have done so well to recognise this and to recognise that you don't want to continue.

bravo for having listened to yourself and posted and bravo for all the work you are doing to cherish yourself again.

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