A Survival Against All Odds

My name is Elizabeth and I am a survivor of sexual childhood abuse and unspeakable trauma. Before I tell you my story, I want you to know that no matter how bad your life is, there is always hope. I lived in the darkness for a long time during my most vulnerable childhood years. I know how hard it can be just to exist. I almost gave up living many times but even in my darkest despair, I somehow found it within me to carry on breathing.

I survived and so can you. You are a lot stronger than you think.

I grew up unwanted, right from the start. An innocent baby girl born to the wrong parents. I was born into a world of brutal sex offenders, murderers, and inconceivably neglectful adults. As a very young girl, I got caught up in a secret sex ring where my so-called father was in charge and loaned me out to vicious sexual predators for their enjoyment. I suffered sexual abuse throughout my entire childhood and I desperately tried to seek help from the adults around me. They chose to sit by and watch me suffer and ignore my cries for help, even my schoolteachers, doctors, and psychiatrists! I was forced to witness several violent sex murders in front of my eyes. All of them happened right next to me whilst I was being raped or restrained. These will forever haunt me and I believed I was next. That fear made me start planning my escape.

My fear of being murdered propelled me throughout my childhood. I had to use different coping strategies to survive in any way I could. I survived in an environment where most kids would not. I lived so that I can tell my story and I am hoping that the world will change. No child should ever have to suffer sexual abuse or any kind of trauma. As part of my healing, I wrote about my life in my book: The Sex-Offender’s Daughter: A True Story of Survival Against All Odds available on amazon.com

In my book, I tell my childhood story as I desperately battle to survive in the worst possible environment. Sexual abuse must stop and those responsible should be accountable for their actions. No one should have to suffer child abuse. It helped me to know that I was not alone and that is why I wanted people to know my story.

My plan to escape did eventually come true but I had to wait until I was 18. I knew that for me to survive, I had to leave everyone behind me and take a big leap, and hope that everything would work out. That meant cutting all ties from everything and everyone I had ever known. It was not an easy path to get to where I wanted to be but I was strong, determined, and stubborn. I kept overcoming every obstacle and person in my way and I pushed and kept going until I could start my own life. I was determined to break free because I wanted a life as my friends had with their parents. A life filled with love and happiness. I craved it like air in my lungs. I deserved to live my life, the way I wanted to live it. You can do this too!

Once I did break free, I was completely alone and I had no money. I had to get a job to support myself. It is easier said than done when you arrive in a foreign country and have no work experience. I was lucky and I found work but it was like being tortured, to begin with. I was hated and treated like a slave. I washed dishes, mopped floors, and cleaned bathrooms for a while. I stuck with it because going back was not an option. I managed to save my tiny salary and put myself through college night school and then I got myself into university. After I got my degree, I went from strength to strength. I opened doors, I never knew possible just a few years previously. My world had been closed to me but now suddenly, it was wide open! It was an incredible feeling!

I now live in a happy home with my husband and children. I am surrounded by friends and I have a job that I love. I settled far away from where I grew up. I will never completely heal from my past but I have a bright future surrounded by love as it should be. I treasure my life because I had to fight for it. I am who I chose to be. Every day is a gift and I go where I belong.

If you are fighting, take each day as it comes, and remember your life matters. You matter! The world is waiting for you to open those doors. Go ahead! If I could do it, so can you!

Sometimes I stop and listen to my breathing

My beating heart is a wonderful feeling

Hearing the wind blowing the leaves in the trees

the waves cascading in the sea breeze

feeling the sand underneath my feet

seeing the land and the ocean meet

smelling a meadow of wonderful flowers

I feel rich and alive in the sun’s power

The simple joy of someone’s laughter

In our beautiful world for us to look after.

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