Healing Wounds with Words

Excerpts:

“ .. Wounded Souls: A Collection of Poems and Songs, and its companion spoken-word CD (by) Ingrid D. Johnson .. A Winnipeg-based artist .. Johnson’s first book, Little Black Butterfly in Iridescent Sunlight, came out four years ago. According to Ingrid, it was a catalyst for major personal life transformations. This meant honestly confronting friendships and relationships that were unhealthy and manipulative. “I feel my new poems reflect my struggle to forgive and let go of the past, ways the abuse affected my voice and sense of personal boundaries, and my spiritual struggle to overcome all the anger, loss, pain, resentment, bitterness and sadness I felt and expressed in my first book. This new book is more positive. It offers truth, hope, healing and inspiration instead of anger, venom, rage, profanity and bitterness.”

“my love for people who are hurting and lost is also an inspiration to write, and my anger towards people’s ignorance and lack of care for other victims and survivors drives me to speak up for the voiceless. I work with kids in care and [my] sincerest hope is that my words, my life and my story will inspire at least one of them to be a success.”

Ingrid offers the following advice to people who find themselves in sexually abusive situations and relationships: “You are not alone. When you are ready, tell your story and don’t stop telling it until someone listens and helps you to do something good to counteract it. Overcoming sexual abuse begins with surviving — coping — but you have to confront the abuse and learn from its impact on you in order to overcome it before you can help others.”

Click here to read in full

Hollywood’s Twisted View of Child Sexual Abuse

An interesting and well-written editorial, worth reading the whole piece. Here is an excerpt:

".. Once again, the adult's self-interest is being used to rationalize treating proven child sex abuse as though it is trivial, as though it leaves no lasting mark on a child's psyche or soul. Hollywood's defense of Polanski is no different than the Catholic Bishops' shifting of child predators from parish to parish. Both are serving reputation and power at the expense of basic child safety. Polanski's girls have been the fodder of the "great artist." What do a few statutory rapes matter, when you have the man who produced "Rosemary's Baby"? .."

Click here to read in full

George Galloway Writes of Abuse As A Child

“.. The Respect MP said, in his column for the Daily Record, he had been abused by a school caretaker when he was 11 .. The Bethnal Green and Bow MP wrote: "I'm not saying the abuse has ruined my life or anything. I've had a happy life. But it did affect my life and not in a good way and neither in ways I care to rehearse before you. Every time a Soham murderer or a Dunblane Thomas Hamilton emerges, I die a little inside as I remember that dirty old man driven by the same perverted interest in sexually attacking kids ..”

Click here to read in full

Former ‘Idol’ Contestant Gets Skinny

" .. Mandisa’s weight has always been a painful topic for her, originating from childhood trauma. The Grammy nominee was sexually molested as a child and a rape at age 16 only added to her struggle. "A lot of girls turn to men to fill that void and some turn to drugs," the singer, 32, told People. "I turned to food as my drug of choice." .. "

Click here to read in full

Former Miss America Marilyn Van Derbur Speaks Out On Child Abuse

“ .. I’m in touch with more adult survivors than anyone else in America, and we’ve all felt that shame in ourselves — that if people know, we will no longer be respected or admired,” she said .. her message to her fellow survivors is that they should shift their perspective from shame to pride. “It took me 53 years to understand that I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “We talk a lot about how we protect our children, and how to teach them that their bodies are their own,” .. The other message is that it’s rarely the “stranger in the park” who is the perpetrator. “Almost always, we are violated by someone we trust,” she said. “Part of my mission is also to say that it happens in the nicest homes .. "

Click here to read full story

Olympic Medallists Go Public with Sexual Abuse

" .. Margaret Hoelzer .. the swimmer who won three medals at the Beijing Olympics is ready to share her story and work to make sure what she says happened to her doesn't happen to other kids .. "Some days I feel great about it, and I'm completely at peace with it, completely calm and ready to do this. Then, there are other days where I'm like, 'Oh my God, do I really want to do this?’ ..

Hoelzer, in counseling for more than a year after telling her parents of being abused, decided it was time to return to therapy. During the process, Hoelzer dredged up all sorts of uncomfortable feelings and memories. But she also began to gain a better understanding of herself. "I was looking for a sense of peace within myself, and I was looking for a sense of confidence," Hoelzer said. "Since I've been back in counseling, the biggest thing I've learned is that what (sexual abuse) does. It undermines people's value. It undermines their self-confidence ..

Chris Witty, a Winter Olympic gold medalist in speedskating, .. too, was a victim of childhood abuse, violated by a trusted neighbor from the age of 4 to 11. She, too, hid her secret for years. Finally, after extensive therapy and a triumphant performance at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Witty turned to the media to get her story out. Once she went public, Witty was overwhelmed by the reaction. She was bombarded with letters and e-mails, all of them praising her for taking such a bold step. Total strangers came up to reveal their own cases of abuse. Most poignantly, a friend, emboldened by Witty's courage, came forward to reveal being molested. "As soon as I heard that, I knew it was mission accomplished," said Witty, who now lives in the Netherlands. "I don't think I would have had closure about my abuse issue unless I could tell people about it .. “

Click here to read full story