"What happened to you was not your fault."

TRIGGER WARNING: WE ARE DISCUSSING SEXUAL ASSAULT With more women sharing their sexual assault stories online we thought it was necessary to bring on a therapist and talk about this sensitive topic.  Topics covered: - How to seek help if you have been sexually assaulted - Rebuilding your life/ learning to trust and start dating  - Substance abuse - Self harm and suicidal thoughts - Immigrant families and how they deal with Sexual assault and how they deal with therapy  - Sexual Assault and the justice system  - How to help a friend who confides in us - How to deal with it if your friend has been accused of committing sexual assault - How to talk to our younger siblings about consent - How to help your child if they've been abused THERE IS SUPPORT OUT THERE!  Resources: https://www.oneinfour.org.uk/ -  They offer an advocacy service, counselling and can provide this via skype, telephone and in many languages for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.  Thoughts of wanting to end your life are very common and quite normal for a lot of people in your situation. They tend to be a form of escapism and a lot of people would say that these thoughts are fleeting. Most people don’t tend to open up about ever experiencing these thoughts but if you are ever having these thoughts you can contact services such as the Samaritans on 116 123. Similarly they have recently launched a new app https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/self-help/ which can help you track your mood and provide you with guided self-help. It can also help you with safety planning too. https://www.thesurvivorstrust.org/ - They offer the same as above but also have rape specialists http://www.cisters.org.uk/ -  For survivors of childhood incest http://www.cisters.org.uk/ - For mothers of sexually abused children https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/ - Prevention of childhood sexual abuse https://www.iesohealth.com/en-gb - Online therapy Please reach out if you have been effected by this episode. You are not alone and we are here to help.  We are also raising money to provide therapy to 500 immigrant women. Please donate here.