The Word Is Out.

I’ve an important announcement to make tonight. I’ve decided since I’ve lost everything in my life, I’ve officially died internally by grief, I’ve nothing else better to do with my time now…I’m taking charge of my life and healing by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in the new year.

I’ve lost my identity and everyone in my life whom I was close to, lost my faith in humanity as a whole, and I’m sick and tired of being in pain for no good reason.

I survived the most extreme forms of violence against women, yet ask myself daily: what’s left to live for now? …

pretty birds.

only experts can kill 2 birds with 1 stone: it’s called the truth. and when you’re tired of being in a birdcage, it’s the only option left to be set free.

but a free bird will never again trust its captor for its care…you just never forget when someone clips your wings then tries to kill you, all while making you watch other birds fly into the same cage to be clipped.

love grows wings, opens all the doors, then flies away and never looks back. …

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep…

I was back in the brick mansion.

It was night, the whole place filled in darkness, without lights. The moon, barely lighting up the floorboards through the sheer-covered window, provided only a small lamp to show me the way.

I thought I was alone…

But when I laid down to sleep, I heard doors opening. I went to check the rooms, quietly tiptoeing through the maze.

Then I saw him there, laying asleep on the sofa, a slight grin on his face. I tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t move. Then, I heard whispers and faint cries upstairs.

I went up, my bare feet on the cold stairs, turning to ice. …

Trigger Warning: Sexual Material, Discussion of Child Abuse/Pornography, Illicit Drugs, and Explicit Descriptions of Assault/Rape.

Would Know A Victim Of Human Trafficking If You Saw One? How About A Trafficker?

Every 20 Minutes, 2 People Are Trafficked In The United States.

Unless you are trained and skilled specifically in tactics of manipulation and tracking down criminal minds, chances are you are not going to be able to recognize a human trafficker as an average citizen.

The truth is, the people who are at the head of these rings are likely those who would never be suspected by the general public — they outwardly appear just as others might on a day to day basis.

But for those of us who’ve seen it happening from the inside, many of us have become specialists of sorts in pinpointing psychopathic criminals, including human traffickers and domestic abusers…and it is kind of like looking through a pair of specifically-attuned glasses: we can see them. And, we can more easily spot people who are enslaved like us, too. …

When You’ve Experienced Injustice And Been Made A Living Statistic, You Learn What Real Justice Should Look Like.

As a victim of crime myself, let me start off by stating this: I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt. I do give people an honest chance to prove who they truly are before judging.

I even operate several times under the premise I may be mistaken, before making a final determination of character based on repeated action.

Violence and crime victimization have taught me one thing: things are not always as they appear, and neither are people always truly who you think they are.

— S.L. Clarke

The only way to tell who someone really is? By listening to their words, observing their actions, then understanding intent behind knowledge of facts. …

Have You Ever Heard Someone Say You Need To Forgive People Who Used Violence Against You?

If you are like many other abuse survivors, you’ve likely faced some form of victim blaming. One common misconception especially prominent in religious communities across the world is the pervasive idea that a person who’s been hurt by violence should forgive their abuser in order to heal. Some people have even said that reconciliation via forgiveness of an abuser is the right thing to do.

In the survivor community, I have most often heard people who’ve lived through violence specifically mention Christianity as the religion weaponized to further inflict trauma upon them — however, this could be said for any religion that has been used to coercively control another person. …

Slavery Still Exists.

Some women do know what it feels like to be a slave — because for some, we really were. Some of us, we still are. Most of us, we don’t even see it.

There’s a pervasive notion in our modern world that we’ve somehow overcome all slavery…that such an advanced society, one built by precepts of freedom, couldn’t possibly promote slavery.

But the reality couldn’t be any further from this illusion.

Until we recognize the truth behind our obtainment of freedom, we cannot see the truth of what it really means to be enslaved.

A society whose foundation is built by oppression…will always be held up on the backs of slaves — as slavery is rooted in violence. …

Changing Yourself Is Likely The Hardest Thing You’ll Ever Do.

…And Many Won’t Make It.

One thing I’ve changed about myself over the past two years physically separated from the perpetrator…is I’ve chosen to grow by self-compassion.

When I look at my own photo, I see myself as I’d look at another women in pain of a cruel situation: “How sad it is, a beautiful and kindhearted woman to be hurt by an evil man.”

This is distinctly different from self-pity which is rooted in entitlement and selfish desire.

It’s not I want to be treated as a human being…it’s that I need to be treated as a human being — because I AM a human being. …