How you might feel if you are sexually abused | Mencap | Easy Read

How you might feel if you are sexually abused

A woman shrugging her shoulders with her hands out.

How you might feel while you are being abused

If you are being sexually abused, you might feel confused or upset because you like the person, or because he or she cares for you.

A woman grabbing a man by the shoulder and kicking him.

When you are being abused, your brain tries to keep you safe. You might:

fight with the person who is abusing you
run away from the person who is abusing you
feel angry
stop and be too scared to move (this is called freezing)
do what the person who is abusing you asks you to do
go floppy.

A woman with a thought bubble with a green tick and red cross inside it

There is no right or wrong way to react.

tired sleepy

How you might feel after you have been abused

After you have been abused, your body might feel any of these things:

tired
restless
dizzy.

A man is holding his stomach whilst sitting on the toilet

You might:

have a stomach upset
find it hard to breathe
have a fast heartbeat
have tight muscles
find it hard to sleep.

A man with his fists raised.

You might feel:

angry
sad
scared
guilty (this means you might think it was your fault)
confused.

A man lying in bed asleep with a thought bubble with outlines of scary creatures in it.

You might:

have bad dreams
want to be alone
not trust anyone.

A woman with her head down and her arms folded looking sad

You might think or do things differently like:

not wanting to go out or see friends and family
eating too much or too little
drinking, smoking or using drugs more
not looking after yourself
hurting yourself (this is called self-harm).

Two men standing beside each other holding hands.

You might also:

not want to be touched or have sex
want to be touched and have lots of sex
want someone you trust near you all the time.

A woman with a neutral facial expression.

It is normal to feel any of these things after you have been abused.

A man wearing a tshirt smiling with his thumb up. Beside him is a smiley face emoji.

The feelings might last a long time but you will get better.

Photographs of the same man in different poses

Everyone feels differently about what has happened to them.

A woman shrugging her shoulders with her hands out.

You might not remember what happened to you.

This is ok.

A man with crossed arms and his head down thinking about a man showing pictures of naked people.

Thoughts you might have after you have been abused

After you have been abused, you might keep thinking about what happened.

A man pointing to himself.

You might think:

It was my fault.
I should have done something differently.
I deserved what happened to me.

A woman is sitting on a chair looking sad thinking about things

These thoughts might feel like they are true, but it is important to remember they are not true.

A man looking sad and unhappy

If you have been sexually abused, it is important to remember it was not your fault.

A woman banging her head against a wall.

The next part of our sexual abuse guide is about other things that might happen after you have been abused.

A laptop showing some easy read information.

Or you can go back to the introduction to choose to go to a different part of the sexual abuse guide.