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ARIZONA SEXUAL ASSAULT NETWORK

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experience surviving sexual assault.

Read Survivor Stories...

“Reducing the Threat of Sexual Violence”

Survivor Stories
IMPORTANT WARNING: This page details different accounts of sexual assault. If you have been a victim of sexual assault, these may be very difficult to read and may trigger memories of your experience. Some are contain slight graphic descriptions, please read with caution.

Holly’s Story

I can't remember what was said to trigger my first major flashback. One minute I was sitting quietly talking to a friend, the next I was transported to the middle of the actual rape. I was there reliving it second by second. It was so very real, I could feel what was happening, hear what was being said I was unaware of anyone or anything other than what I was being subjected to yet again. I could feel the panic, I couldn't breathe, I struggled, I wanted to escape but I didn't know how. Finally I felt the arms of my friend around me, I just laid there in her arms and cried, not the hard heavy sobs that wracked my whole body while I was experiencing the rape, but the gentle tears that heal and mend. The tears of relief.

-Holly

Jason’s Story

"I was at a party one night and there was an older girl there who was really wasted. She talked me into going into the bedroom with her by telling me she needed to show me something. Once in the room she kept kissing me and soon began to take off my pants. I told her to stop, that I did not want to have sex with her, but she didn’t listen. I thought because I had an erection that it was my fault and I must have wanted it to happen. Months later I started dating a wonderful girl but I felt uncomfortable when we would start kissing. My girlfriend thought I did not like her and asked if I was uncomfortable because of anything she had done. I realized it had nothing to do with her. It was so hard for me to tell my girlfriend but I finally did. She helped me to understand that I had been sexually assaulted because I did not give my consent. She told me she loves me and that what happened is not my fault. "

-Jason

Pamela’s Story
"When I was raped, my world as I had known it was destroyed. When I was given the number of the Rape Treatment Center, I was given the key to regaining my life. The words of the therapists at the Rape Treatment Center build roads that allow victims to find their way back to the living."
-Pamela

Tom’s Story
“It is now 17 weeks since I was raped. Although I am a lot stronger than I was, I feel as though I will never again be the same person that I was before it happened. I will be older, wiser, less trusting, more aware, but much more importantly I will be free of "victim status". I am a survivor!
-Tom

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