This is what I imagine will be on the back cover of my book. What do you think? Please be critical, please make me better.

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*trigger warning*

This book is not for women. It is not for psychologists, counselors, or their patients. It’s for those who walk around oblivious to the shell-shocked souls they pass. It’s for the few who are unscathed and uneducated in the art of surviving sexual abuse. This book is for those who have miraculously escaped the horror of unwanted hands groping their intimate places.

Survivors of child sexual abuse are all around us. 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys report being sexually abused. But how many don’t report? How many are too traumatized to admit or even to remember? The reality of our world is that sexual crimes are rampant and that few know how to offer a sanctuary of relief or even a comforting word to the survivors. As a culture, we remain in the habit of victim-blaming.

Sexual abuse wounds are like shrapnel buried deep in the skin; forcing and demanding the wounds be confronted and healed often creates more pain and re-traumatizes the survivor. Coping mechanism after coping mechanism are bandaged over the wounds, and only the survivor can decide to remove these. But we—as the community around the survivor—can learn how to respond well and create safe haven relationships.

This book will not teach you how to heal sexual trauma; this book will give you insight into the survivors wounds and distorted vision so you can respond with care to the survivors of sexual abuse that are all around you.

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Is the first paragraph too long? Too graphic?

*trigger warning* is a fun secret code among survivors and those in the know. It means “what you are about to encounter may remind you of your own abuse, so take care and don’t read if you’re having a bad day”