It takes away a person's innocence and self-respect, and usually silences the victim so that help is difficult to find. The wounds and struggles that follow are often as difficult to deal with as the original abuse.
Many victims feel alone, confused, depressed, and sometimes as if they are going crazy.
If you have been sexually abused, or if you know someone struggling with this problem, the following pages describe a process of recovery that is filled with hope and help. Some of what follows will be difficult to accept. But the pain of understanding and healing is far less than the pain of denial and despair. The author, Dan Allender, is the founder and director of Wounded Heart Ministries in Denver, Colorado.