I began writing on Steemit eight months ago, recounting my experiences of ritual abuse in the UK. In that time I have healed from this abuse through the process of speaking out.

Speaking out is the healing

I think what few survivors realize is that speaking out is the most important part of healing. You can do yoga, mediation and consciousness expansion, but something will always feel unresolved until your experience is shared. It wasn't until I spoke out on behalf of the kid in me that my trust in myself was restored and my healing was complete.

I am aware that many 'professionals' — doctors, lawyers, psychologists — advise ritual abuse survivors not to speak out, because they are vulnerable. But I take the opposite view. Keeping quiet is what keeps us sick.

Why do some survivors keep quiet?

In keeping quiet about sexual abuse, we become unwitting participants. These networks of abusers rely on the silence of their victims to keep operating. It may be very hard to speak out; it may feel terrifying, but it is, in my opinion, the only way out.

Many of us were told that if we spoke about what was happening to us that we would be attacked, or even killed. My abusers told me that they would find me and kill me. But, I have decided they have no power over me. I will not keep silent for them. I do not follow their orders anymore:

What was taken from me as a child was my voice. Only in writing here on Steemit and talking to people around me has my voice been restored. I am no longer a participant in the abuse of children through my silence. Freedom of expression is the ultimate gift.

Goodbye Steemit

I wanted to write this final post to thank everyone on Steemit who has read my posts and supported me. I will not be writing here in this incarnation again.

I am fortunate to have made contact with a major news organization who is now supporting me in exposing the people who hurt me, and thousands of other children. I never thought my voice could be so loud.

It is thunderous.

I wish you all well. Keep the fight going.