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I began to understand how pain manifests into diseases.

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This is the girl who knows her worth and wants everyone else to know it too.

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In todays day and age, you are forced to to relive your experience through the media and are still expected to heal.

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In seventh grade, I catfished the most popular girl in school. Mind you, this was before the term “catfish” was coined.

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So for him, I sacrificed my extra-curricular activities. I sacrificed a friendship that I truly valued. Because I wanted to prove to him that I also give and take in the relationship. But it was not enough.

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I am someone so strong, so powerful. A survivor.

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I will take back the security you stole, the confidence you stole. I will take back the innocence you robbed me of, the womanhood you robbed me of.

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For every time there was an upset, there were several happy moments, where I’d share my work with him, or we’d imagine our future together, or he’d teach me to cook or drive, or we’d take his kids out, or we’d discuss something we’d seen together.

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I am tired of listening to people talking about abuse as though a victim must be of a certain sex, or provoking by looking and acting a certain way. Abuse is entirely gender neutral.

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You don’t have to justify to anyone the reasons you didn’t leave right away.