sexual assault survivor

My sexual assault is the main reason my girlfriend and I didn’t celebrate the love-infested holiday for the first six years of our relationship. Last Valentine’s Day, a month after we celebrated seven years together, was our first time embracing the holiday as our own.

I hate that it's happened to her and the thought of this guy doing this to other women makes me sick. How can I help support my friend who was raped?

She’s made all the mistakes, so you don’t have to… Ask Erin is a weekly advice column, in which Erin answers your burning questions about anything at all.

She’s made all the mistakes, so you don’t have to… Ask Erin is a weekly advice column, in which Erin answers your burning questions about anything at all.

Sixteen years have passed since my last sexual assault, and before now, I had an incredibly healthy sex drive. The past year has been the hardest year for us. All of the memories of being assaulted came back more clearly, and the feelings of fear came rushing back with them.

March is always an awful month for me. In Cape Town — my home town — March marks the beginning of autumn. Summer’s exhilarating heat comes to a sobering end. Sweltering afternoons and nights spent around the fire ominously disappear, soon to be replaced by gusts of winds and air so cold it literally hurts your face.

Take everything personally and think the worst of any situation? Overwhelmed with your job or at school? Say self-deprecating things about yourself, or think the same of other people? If you can relate to any of this, it’s a sure sign you need to take better care of yourself, because happiness and healing truly comes from within.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. Unfortunately, you probably know someone who has been sexually assaulted. 1 out of 6 American women are survivors of attempted or completed rape. It’s not just women: 1 out of 33 men are survivors as well.