232 upvotes, 25 direct replies (showing 25)
View submission: 2024 US Post-Election Megathread
Are there any survivors of sexual abuse/rape here who are having more difficulty than usual today?
I don't know how to explain but I am feeling all the emotions I felt when my parents failed to protect me when I told them about the abuse I was facing. I feel like my abusers won again today because an entire nation chose to vote for a pedophile, a rapist, a misogynist convicted felon instead of a woman.
My emotions are all over the place and everything is a trigger today. Anyone else in a similar boat? How are you gals coping?
Comment by [deleted] at 06/11/2024 at 19:15 UTC
78 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by Jayne234 at 06/11/2024 at 19:14 UTC
45 upvotes, 2 direct replies
We are here… I am feeling similarly triggered. It feels like a gut punch that so many people in this country didn’t think SA wasn’t a deal breaker. I’m so sad for all the little girls that will grow up in this country. And I’m disgusted with their parents for voting for that predator. Sending you and other survivors hugs today 💜
Comment by Direct_Cantaloupe_82 at 06/11/2024 at 19:54 UTC*
32 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Yea. Feels like betrayal all over again. My mom telling me I’ll “be fine” is a reminder of that betrayal. It’s re-traumatization all over again.
America loves rapists and hates women. They hate victims.
After Trump won the first time, my father argued that because Bill Clinton was a rapist, I was supporting a rapist by voting for Hillary Clinton. He made me out to be this betrayer of victims…
This is the same man who vehemently and coldly defended my rapist and brother after I told him I’d been raped. My brother also raped other family members as an 18-year-old. One victim was a small child. Our parents told us to shut up about it, never tell anyone, and move on as if nothing happened. They denied our PTSD and enabled our abuser. It’s been years and it still hurts.
My father, the same man who accused me of trying to ruin my rapist’s life for wanting justice, accused me of not supporting victims. The nerve!
I was silenced. Told if I reported, I’d be disowned. I wish I had reported him, but it would’ve been fruitless. No one else wanted to report and there was a statute of limitations anyway.
Still, that was the biggest betrayal. My mom was also his apologist, but facing my father’s hypocrisy after all his shaming and blaming me was like an extra punch in the gut.
I can’t look him in the eye or respect him anymore. After yesterday, I don’t want to see or speak to him again. He can’t even vote, but I know he will try to rub it in my face.
Comment by swimmupstream at 06/11/2024 at 19:45 UTC
68 upvotes, 4 direct replies
I have been raped twice, by two different men. Today I was leaving the subway on my commute and this man walking toward me was giving me weird eyes and when I passed him he reached out and tried to grab my skirt. I skittered away and he gave me this awful, shit-eating grin. I know it’s a coincidence but I don’t like what that portends re: Trump’s next term
Comment by RenegadeRabbit at 06/11/2024 at 19:19 UTC
22 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Absolutely. I'm heartbroken. My parents voted for Trump twice and many of my male friends didn't even bother to vote. A rapist won. Again. There was no justice when I was raped and those times that I was sexually assaulted and there's no justice now.
Comment by CaitT36 at 06/11/2024 at 20:20 UTC
20 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I woke up today feeling violated all over again. It’s felt impossible to convey how utterly disgusted and betrayed I feel to others in my life.
Comment by meekmeeka at 06/11/2024 at 19:57 UTC
17 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Present. My parents know about my SA and proudly voted for him. I don’t know. I think because historically these assaults are almost never prosecuted and there’s still so much victim blaming and alleged crying wolf (statistically incredibly rare) I’m not terribly surprised. I was more triggered finding out my parents supported him so strongly vs uneducated and un empathetic Americans.
I am still disgusted. I am angry. I am hurt. However I am unsurprised. I think I’ve just lost faith in people.
Comment by tiffytatortots at 06/11/2024 at 20:39 UTC
14 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hearing Trump say "Ill protect women whether they like it or not" really set something off in me.
Comment by b1gbunny at 06/11/2024 at 21:01 UTC
13 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Yes. Sexually assaulted and was in an abusive and sexually coercive relationship for years that did permanent damage to my nervous system. I'm now disabled due to multiple chronic illnesses. I am seriously worried about what to do to escape the coming onslaught of triggering information on the daily - it's cognitively challenging *and* physically challenging. It's not realistic to shut myself off from the outside world.. but that might be what it takes.
Deep breaths are a start.
Comment by Traditional-Path-622 at 06/11/2024 at 20:07 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My father who continuously votes for and defends trump also stood by me in court to prosecute the man who SA’ed me. I was 19. I’ve had my words about it, he insists it’s different and then gaslights me by talking about how strong I am and how proud he is that I moved on. I mourn the dad I used to have on days like today. A reality tv show host turned him into someone I barely recognize.
Comment by Zestyclose-Heart-602 at 06/11/2024 at 20:15 UTC
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Yep, definitely feeling triggered and defeated. I keep thinking “why am I the only one around here who seems to think it’s wrong to assault women and call us bitches, etc?” It makes me feel crazy (once again).
Comment by AirBooger at 06/11/2024 at 19:31 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Yes, it was very fresh for me in 2016. I’ve since gone through a lot of therapy and can say the best thing I did was cut my parents out of my life, and anyone openly supporting Trump. It is not worth your mental health to engage with them, these people are leeches. Cutting them out gives you more time and space to lean into the community of wonderful people you’ve already built around you. They may not be the country’s future, but they are your future and your best chance at a full and happy life.
Comment by motherofsmallones at 06/11/2024 at 20:36 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yes having a hard time. And it cuts deeper because my own mother voted for a rapist. I feel sick. And sad.
Comment by CatsEqualLife at 06/11/2024 at 20:24 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’m currently driving to the office where I have group therapy, just to sit in a lobby that I know will be a safe space.
Comment by RagingAubergine at 06/11/2024 at 20:50 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I have cried, been nauseous all day, can’t eat anything and I am so distraught. I have been cursing everyone who made yesterday happen the way it did. I just feel empty.
Comment by Heavy-Is-The-Crown at 06/11/2024 at 21:01 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Definitely been a really rough day. Really sad, depressed, shocked, numb, horrified, scared. Like I now want to go take self-defense classes even more than I did before.... I just feel so unsafe.
Comment by Unable-Letter9582 at 06/11/2024 at 21:18 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I feel like I am grieving old versions of me all over again
Comment by Fun_Orange_3232 at 06/11/2024 at 21:38 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
My abuser voted for him, so life is going great over here /s
Comment by canarinoir at 06/11/2024 at 19:49 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yes yes yes
Comment by suckerloveheavensent at 06/11/2024 at 22:03 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
it just hurts so much to see that people do not care, and how our rapists will be able to receive positions of power.
you are not the same after being raped. they don’t understand the damage and disrespect they have done. fuck them for that.
Comment by _misc_molly_ at 06/11/2024 at 22:23 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I am having a lot of emotions. I did have some that reminded me of the multiple times I left my abusive ex, only to go back. But this time it wasn’t me that went back, yet here I am in this situation again… hard to explain.
Comment by hereforthebets21 at 08/11/2024 at 01:15 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I’m feeling all the emotions again as well. I thought I had dealt with them and moved past this. But all of a sudden I’m feeling extremely triggered and like I’m back to square one.
It helps to know that others are also feeling this way. Although it’s extremely sad to see others feel this way too.
I’m doing a little better today. But I was really struggling yesterday. I couldn’t stop randomly breaking down and crying and just not feeling ok
Comment by No_Tomatillo1553 at 06/11/2024 at 23:38 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yes, same.
Comment by Alive-Tennis-1269 at 07/11/2024 at 09:39 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yes. I survived childhood sexual abuse and SA as an adult, and today I cut off a friend in Minnesota who said she 'respects' those who didn't vote at all because apparently the Democratic Party is to blame for everything.
Comment by InterestingNarwhal82 at 07/11/2024 at 19:42 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Oh boy. I hadn’t even linked them even though I 100% linked it in 2016.