#shatterthesilence

[sarahscraftography]

Unlock the power within! Break the silence, embrace resilience, and light up your path to a fearless, empowered future! 🌈

[teressajoubert]

Holidays can be a time that we want to skip past and avoid when we are missing our loved ones on the other side. If you need help through this time, please connect with me or click on the link in my bio to set up an appointment. You are not alone. ✨🙏✨ ⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ #medium #love #psychicreadings #spiritcommunication #spiritmessages #mediumship #spiritual #consciousness #motivation #intuition #spiritualguidance #healing #loveyourself #spiritualjourney #mediumshipdevelopment #mindfulness #spirituality #mediumshipmentor #lightworker #angels #spiritualteacher #clairvoyant ⁣#traumahealing #shatterthesilence #traumatherapy #losssupport #missyou #teressajoubert #holidays #mourning https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl6mWxKuHIG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dr-remind]

Watch for warning signs, reach out to those we know are suffering and assist those in need. All we have to do is be KINDER to others… Tell us a kind statement in the comments that someone said to you! ⬇️ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #suicideprevention #suicideawarness #suicidepreventionmonth #suicide #suicidepreventionawareness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #shatterthesilence #psy #psychology #ReMind #talkwewanttolisten (at India delhi) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTgaKT4p9YN/?utm_medium=tumblr

[lpmissy]

Please report anything you see as suspicious. #ProtectChildren If you encounter a photo or video of child sexual abuse online Don’t share it. Don’t repost it. Report it to the platform and CyberTipline.org or call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). #CyberTipline #OnlineSafety #ReportIt #ShatterTheSilence #OnlineEnticement #InternetSafety #believesurvivors #SupportSurvivors #SocialGood #socialawareness #survivor #childadvocacy #NCMEC Reposted from @missingkids (at Original Northwood) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSZarXagVcp/?utm_medium=tumblr

[oxiegoeimi]

Powerless to clothe the homeless Unable to exchange trash for gold Crippled because they are crippled Afraid to watch my family bleed Alone in my imaginations Too weak to change the rules Tired of being so useless Give me a reason for the broken down This life is full of trauma Emergency rooms full of screams Stop this nightmare, unending Someone please remind us... That we are human beings. - #oxiegoeimi #empathy 🦁🏳🔐💙 #poet #writer #dream #vision #imagine #speak #create #embracethepain #shatterthesilence #emergency #iHuman 🌲 #infinity #Healer 🔥 #Spirit 🕊 #hope ⚜️ #grace ☔️ #love 🌸 #life 🌊 #unity 🌈 #believe 💝 #weareone ✂️🕚🎶 #energy #namaste #coexist #freelove #eternity 💜🌠🌅🌟 (at Somewhere over the Rainbow)

[estefiroberts-blog]

Day 8 of the #pregnancyandinfantloss #photochallenge What To Say: there is really not one thing to say that will make things better. There just isn't. But as a grieving mom I can tell you that simple phrases such as: “This sucks”, “I am sorry your baby boy died”, “I am praying for you” go a long way. I loved the cards we received from friends and family! Also, don’t be afraid to ask about the pregnancy and the baby. You are not reminding us our baby died (trust me, we are well aware of that), but you are reminding us our baby lived. Acknowledging our baby existed and we were once pregnant is the greatest gift you can give a grieving mom… . . . . . #awareness #miscarriage #14weekmiscarriage #captureyourgrief #angelbaby #latemiscarriage #iam1in4 #grief #Octoberchallenge #loss #pinkandblue #miscarriageblog #miscarriagesucks #pregnancyloss #bornintoheaven #pail #miscarriagesurvivor #shatterthesilence #whattosay

[brendaoelbaum]

#bearbackinannarbor #shatterthesilence #antigunrally #uofmdiag #mypeeps #preachingtothechoir #easierthanlemmings #grandrapidsneedsanexorism #artisnotaprizetobewon #betsysbear #nogunsinschools #booksnotbullets @annarbornews @mlivenews @shatterthesilence @mothersdemandaction @marchforourlives @womensmarch https://www.instagram.com/p/BocZcL4F-Ku/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jz45jgvppdcg

[extremelyflawlesswithchrist-blog]

#April is #autismawareness #month #breakthesilence #shatterthesilence #differentnotless #learndontjudge #autism #autistic #spreadawareness #awareness #helpspreadtheword #helpspreadawareness #lipsense #lipsensecollection #senegence #lipsensebysenegence #lipsensedistributor #lipstick #skincare #liquidlipstick . . SeneGence ID#238719 . https://goo.gl/SLRNm2 . . www.senegence.com/LipsSoKissable www.facebook.com/extremelyflawlesswithchrista Instagram - www.instagram.com/extremelyflawlesswithchrista Tumblr - https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/extremelyflawlesswithchrista Twitter - www.twitter.com/xtremelyflawlss

[fuckingtrashlord]

i started a T-Shirt company to help raise awareness for Mental Health and to shatter the silence on all things that need to be talked about in our society today

[me-mindfulexistence]

“I said nothing”....

A few months ago I made a request for anyone that was willing to share their story of “abuse” (physical, sexual, emotional) with the public to please reach out to me.  I’m honored to have people who are trusting me with their anonymity and narrative b/c it’s not only empowering and healing for that person, but it has the potential to help and educate others as well.  People who haven’t ever dealt with abuse many times have difficulty wrapping their minds around the fact that victims rarely seek help. They rarely report it...and when they do it’s usually not  prosecuted and the attacker almost never spends a day in jail.  So this nonsense of “why didn’t they tell someone it happened X amount of years ago” is bullcrap.  Fear is fear.  Most people who were victimized are already traumatized and now FEAR “telling” as much as they feared their attacker.  Believe it.  

Below is my first “Jane Doe” story.  It’s a personal recount from someone I know...who is a caring, successful woman who amazingly enough got out of so much darkness and adversity and was able to find the light at the end of the tunnel.  I’m not sure I’d be so strong. Such mental strength....I have nothing but the utmost admiration. 

My story starts off in the sixth grade. My grandmother had died and we moved from the city into her home in an upscale neighborhood. It was an awkward move from a school where everyone was friends with each other to a school that reminded me of the movie "The Breakfast Club". I remember my first encounter with other kids there was being made fun of because I didn't know what a pair of Levi jeans were. There were a few boys that lived in the neighborhood, one in particular lived across the street from me. He was a quiet kid the same age as I was. He came over a few times to throw a baseball with me but that was the extent of it, he never really spoke to me . I can't recall the exact time frame but fast forward to about a year later. I was an outcast with few friends. I didn't fit into the mold or really any cliques and the boy across the street and I didn't interact anymore. One fall afternoon I stepped off the bus (I know it was fall because I remember piles of leaves) and he got off right behind me. As I was walking I remember hearing him walking faster. I didn't think much of it until I entered my back porch and he came storming in. He had this crazy look on his face and said nothing. He pushed me down on the floor and started trying to undress me. I fought hard and was yelling loud. It was a quiet neighborhood and I guess the thought of someone hearing me was enough to scare him off. He ran out the back door and that was that.  I didn't say a word to anyone, and so my story of abuse begins.

Still awkward with not many friends a few guys from the football team started talking to me. I welcomed the attention, I mean these were the popular boys and they were talking to me. A few weeks went by and one started becoming extra friendly to me. One day as I was sitting in music class waiting for the teacher to arrive, I felt someone grab my arms and pull them behind me. While this happened, another boy started grabbing my breasts. The teacher walked in and they let go. This started the same behavior from several of the other football players. While I was at my locker, in the hall, wherever and whenever they chose and grabbing whatever body parts they felt like. I was an ugly seventh grader who got made fun of on a daily basis as horrible as it sounds, while I did not enjoy it…for me it was attention so again I said nothing. This went on for months (as they did it to other girls as well) until someone reported them. The only thing that was done about it was the principal got on the loud speaker and announced he was aware of it and said “this molestation will stop” and was the end of it.

Another year passes and I’m about 14 or 15 now. I start to become friends with the rebel type kids (like “Bender” in the movie “The Breakfast Club”) I started roller skating and actually became really good at it. I didn’t have skates so I always had to borrow friends. At this point in my life my mother had moved out with her boyfriend and I was living with an alcoholic father who got drunk and used me for a punching bag (that’s another story) I started hanging around with a group of older guys ages 18-21. This next part is hard for me to express because I blamed myself for years (and I think deep down I still do a little) because I liked the one. He was 20 or 21 and I was a young 14 or 15 year old girl. He had a girlfriend but still flirted with me. One of the other guys liked me but I didn’t like him at all. The one I liked started becoming controlling with me (he was like the ring leader) telling me who I could hang out with and what I could do. I had to do summer school that year and I remember they were the ones taking and picking me up. What happened that summer is a bit of a haze  but what I do remember is him forcing me to shower and then told one of the other guys to hold me down so one of the other ones could try oral sex “because he never did it before”.  The next time I remember is this guy was staying over at my house to go boating with my father the next day. That night I went downstairs and was raped by him. I spent the next 2 hours trying to pull out a tampon that had gotten shoved up inside me. I know more things happened but this is all I can recall. Shortly after that I got a boyfriend and got myself away from them. A few months later I told my mother what happened. I don’t know why I even did. She had moved out and left me, knowing I was being hit by my father and made the choice not to take me with her. As I was sobbing telling her the story she said “Oh I’m sorry.” Nothing was done and no more was said.  I quit school in 9th grade and began another spiral with drugs and alcohol.  I am blessed to be alive today.

Almost 40 years has gone by and I’ve seen these people on Facebook. I found out the first boy had died years ago. The rest probably don’t even remember. The damage that was caused is done, I can’t go back and change anything,  so I just keep moving forward.  

(at the bottom is a video where I read her story....)

[monsoonx]

#takebackthenight #shatterthesilence #stoptheviolence #USC #uscvillage (at University of Southern California)

[oxiegoeimi]

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🦁🔐🏳💙 Dirt, water, breath, all traits you, I, and the rest of the world need to exist... So take off your cape, mask, and crown and meet me as you are, so I can appreciate the human inside of you #thisislife #humanity #allthecrayons #freaksandgeeks #bornthisway #bloodhasbeenshed #neversettle #beyourself #embracethepain #beautyinthestruggle #shatterthesilence #nooneleftbehind #notalone #callingalloutcasts #makethemlisten #paradigmshift #worldpeace #coexist #endthewar #invisiblewounds #stormthewall #foreachother #seizetheday #beloud #ihaveadream #echoesofeternity #riskitall #wewillburn #forever #namaste ⚜️💜🌅🌟 (at Wind Over The Earth)

[estefiroberts-blog]

Favorite #Book or #Movie in memory of: “The Little Prince” hands down. I love the book, but this movie adaptation (available on Netflix) captivated me in a special way. Not only did I always picture my little Noah to look exactly like the little prince (small frame, blonde hair, lover of the color green) even before watching the movie, but I absolutely love the story portrayed in the movie. The Little Prince came into The Little Girl’s’ (methodical, calculated, ultra-structured) life, and transformed it with his innocence. Sounds familiar? Exactly! My little prince Noah came into my (calculated, planned) life and transformed me in a way I cannot express in words. This movie told my story in an amazing way… I watched it a couple days after losing Noah and quotes such as: “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” (Among countless of other beautiful quotes). Soothed my heart in a perfect way, at the perfect time. . . . . . #awareness #miscarriage #14weekmiscarriage #captureyourgrief #angelbaby #latemiscarriage #iam1in4 #grief #Octoberchallenge #loss #pinkandblue #miscarriageblog #miscarriagesucks #pregnancyloss #bornintoheaven #pail #miscarriagesurvivor #shatterthesilence #thelittleprince #netflix #littleprince #inmemoryof

[maya-ki-duniya]

Speaking Up: No One Deserves It

'Exactly a year ago, something within her shattered and unknowingly she broke free- from lies, treachery, betrayal and the clutches of a pain inflicting monster. 

The scars still remain and memories often return. But the tears have dried and metamorphosed into something more resolute; into a strong voice that says 'Never again.' A voice so resolute that it vows to free and stand by every other, who has ever been in the clutches of the same monster with a different face and name.

The monster still lives, the monster still lies, tries putting on an angel's disguise. The monster is so well nurtured, that no matter what it will never die; but those who have been bitten by it always manage to see the deceit and beyond the angel disguise.'

16.03.2015

I spent 6 months in an abusive relationship - physically, emotionally and mentally. It came from the most unexpected person, but that’s how most of it hits you. Unexpectedly. I never spoke to anyone about it not because I was ashamed, but simply because I wasn’t sure who around me would understand. The few people I did confide in simply said I should leave. But no one knows how hard it is to leave. Especially when you live with severe insecurities.

He was one of my first friends in college, however for a while we stopped speaking altogether. It was during the train journey for a study tour that we connected again. Things took of and it was extremely rosy. I’d often be telling myself this is too good to be true, but being the pessimist that I am decided to put that thought away and live in the moment.

Three months later. It was a typical case of ‘drugs sex and lies.’ Everything I said was held against me, I had become accustomed to hearing things like ‘you’re selfish’, ‘you are using me’, my phones were checked - on an occasion even broken and then of course there were the physical fights. I used to be so terrified, unaware of whether I must fight back this man twice my size or simply run away. My options were limited. We were classmates, I would have to see him, it was unavoidable. His inability to cope and handle his own tragedies pushed him into the world of drugs. Earlier we would go out, watch movies, hang out before and after class, work on our assignments together and all the other things that couples did. But soon I was reduced to a small part of his life which mostly involved partying, drugs, lies and flings whenever the opportunity presented itself. I was never invited to the parties or to come hang out with his friends, I was basically the side kick that helped with assignments, woke him up for class and did the other non - glamorous chores of his daily life which were too dull for him to do.

It began with the one off fights, if I raised a question or stated any form of unhappiness, I was termed the ‘insecure psycho- bitch’ and would be told that if I kept going this way, things would end. Already in a bad place, with plenty of other ongoing struggles in life and wallowing in misery, the last thing I needed was to lose that one person who was my support. 

When you’re someone living with depression, anxiety and severe insecurity issues, a comment like that - it really takes you out. And when you’re called that over and over, and the condition you live with and fight to defeat everyday is rubbed in your face and used to dismiss anything you say or do, it really weakens you and in my case made me internalize all of what was said off me. The shouting went onto become pushing and the pushing went onto become hitting. One of the days, when he was unhappy with the quality of my conversation with some male friends, after being called a ‘characterless whore’ (all for jokingly texting my best friend about how he should marry me!), my phone was smashed onto the floor, followed by a physical assault where I was thrown against the wall with his massive wrist clenching my hair. (The images of that moment come running back and I still struggle with back aches caused during that fight... sometimes even the thought triggers the pain).  I returned to my hostel room that day and cried my eyes out, I couldn’t believe what was happening. Being someone who stands for women’s rights and opposes any form of abuse, why was I letting this man do this to me? How could I? The body was in excruciating pain, which even after these two years, returns on and off, leaving behind bitter memories. 

Once (...it won’t happen again). Twice (...it won’t happen again, he’s a nice guy going through a tough time) . Thrice (...it won’t happen again) . Again (...it won’t happen again) . Again (...it won’t happen again, if it does I’ll end) . Again (......). Finally, I decided to confide in the friend who said ‘leave...’ and I thought to myself why am I not leaving? Why am I putting myself through this? So yes, I tried to leave, which resulted in first being heckled, pushed around and the rest which had sadly become the everyday of my life, followed by ‘I am sorry’ followed by ‘if you leave, I’ll kill myself.’ Stuck.

*in my head* I have known this person for almost two years, he is a nice person, his circumstances have made him this monster. No one is born this way. I just need to help him find his feet back and things will be fine again. The number of times I had this conversation in my head would run into hundreds if I had counted. I stuck around nonetheless. At times also being told ‘the only reason you’re worried about me is because you still carry the guilt of your best friend’s death.’

My best friend had a heart attack and died. Even today I wonder what guilt he referred to. I was accused of using him, I still wonder for what - used him for being cheated on, hurt - emotionally, mentally and physically and be abused at every possible opportunity?

Two years later, I still ask myself these questions. There was a time I feared stepping out of my hostel room alone, fearing him and even his friends - that they may hurt me or worse. I literally lurked in the shadows and got out only in the dark or with company, when I was sure none of them would be around. I spent three months living in fear with no on to speak to.

Two years later, I still wonder if there will ever be a sincere, heartfelt apology. I still wonder if any of those good times spent together were true, or if those six months of my life were a complete sham. They did take away a lot from me in terms of my ability to give myself to people, be around people, I internalized so much of what he accused me of that I spent days questioning if I really was that person. Even today when someone raises their voice, or I see the slightest hint of aggression in their body language, I have fear run down my spine.

Post my experience and ever since I began speaking about it openly, I have had several of my friends confide in me saying their partner got abusive too. Last year, my friend who I have known for over 14 years told me and I was shocked. Being someone who is very protective of her, I asked her why she didn’t tell me and she said ‘I didn’t think anyone would understand, everyone says leave, but it’s not that simple.’ I’m sure there are many more like her and me out there who have stopped telling their story because we’re always asked ‘why did you stay?’, but seldom do they understand that leaving is not that easy. Especially, when you have been systematically manipulated into being isolated from your peers, emotionally vulnerable and filled with self - doubt. The power of that abuse is such that it reduces you to someone who thinks they deserve it. No. No one deserves it. No one deserves to be manipulated or abused such that they stop believing in themselves, offer themselves as a willful punching bag to be hit, kicked, thrown and spat on. No one, deserves to be reduced to any of that. What one does deserve is someone who will help you heal, someone who won’t ask why you stayed, but knows you have had a hard time and you’re doing everything you can to get out of it.

The trauma of abuse last a life time - it leaves you with scars, wounds, bruises, hurt - emotional, physical and mental. It leaves you with questions. You second guess every person, you are terrified of intimacy or a loud voice; it leaves you with a lot more than what meets the eye. It’s been two years, I am still grappling with a bunch of questions, I don’t know if they will ever be answered or will I one day just stop asking them - time will tell and time will heal. But in the meantime I am here writing, because I know that there are so many of you out there who might be going through the same. I hope you find strength and just know that you’ll survive; you’ll come out much stronger. It takes time, but one day, the strength to walk away does gather itself - you will find it.  

I doesn’t matter what you did or what you’ve been told, just know that you did not deserve it and that you are not alone. 

[oxiegoeimi]

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Rule 3: #die for what you were #born to do #liveyourlife #shatterthesilence #noregrets #fearLESS #risetogether #enterthedragon #yolo #pressON #noexcuses #makeawish #neversettle #tunnelvision #dance #reflect #leadtheway #millennials #sleepwhenwedie #embracethepain #legend #writethevision #howwillitend #love #exhale (at Voices in My Head)