Carnival Against Child Abuse, 7th Edition

Welcome to the 7th Edition of the Carnival Against Child Abuse. I am honored to be able to host the last one for this year! I was hoping many new bloggers would be inspired to share, and my wish came true. I am absolutely awed by the response received. I opened up my blog to Guest Writers, and posted articles for a few folks, so a few of the links below will keep you right here. I can’t thank everyone who participated enough. I hope you visit the bloggers below, and leave comments of support for the courageous people who share their strength with us.

 

Advocacy and Awareness

I asked my friends at Stand Up Guys, (Men Against Violence Against Women, here in Upstate NY) to submit articles for the upcoming edition of the Carnival Against Child Abuse. Hank Shaw, one of the founding “fathers” of SUG submitted the following. ”here’s one I wrote on child sexual abuse for the Dads and Daughters website a few years ago. Hope it fits what you’re looking for.” More Common Than Cancer:  The Sexual Abuse of Children Has Gotta Stop.

Megan at Child protection: Serious Business, submitted an article about ending the secrecy, and explains the difference between secrets and surprises. Sexual abuse: Secret Business Must End.

Shannon at Say No To Rape submitted an article about Myspace.com, and the issues the lack of security has caused with teenagers around the country. MySpace’s New “Security Measures” Just Another Dense Smoke Screen

El at About Abuse (HopeIsWhenWeFeelThePainThatMakesUsTryAgain), a blogger from India, explains what incest is, and how it affects India’s children. Incest – When the abuser is someone in the “family”

A frequent contributor of More4kids, Alan Hammond, a criminal justice professional, posts this article to More4kids to help increase awareness of child abuse. Children of Abuse: In Our Thoughts Daily

 

Aftermath

One of the hardest things we deal with in our healing is self esteem. Stephanie Gagos  submitted an article as a Guest Writer reminding us how important our self esteem is, and offers suggestions for working on our own. Self-Esteem: A Necessary Component of Survival

Manymeez at Coffegrounds offers If Only  How do you get past the past? If only there were easy answers…But then again, the life of a survivor is full of “If Only”

6/52 Dates to Remember was submitted by Emily at Doing it All Again, sharing “turning points in my life and, while they were painful, I finally managed to get to be the person I felt I was meant to be.”

 

Healing & Therapy

Jennifer submitted as a guest writer some thoughts about things in Professional Stuffing of Our Minds. This post has very strong language, and rightfully so.

Linda at Everyone Needs Therapy says, therapists sometimes miss a beat when recommending help for survivors and those who have not “survived” all that well. This post speaks to those who are suffering in silence about a Sex Addiction that has everything to do with having been sexually abused as a child. I recommend resources outside of therapy to boost whatever healing happens in the therapy venue.

April_optimist at Thrivers Tool Box submitted Mirror Neurons, ”something that when I heard about it had a profound impact on me. It explained so much! Maybe it would mean something to others as well.”

Heather from The Inner Sanctum says “anyone that has been abused has been lied to, manipulated and until you break those chains and acknowledge the fact you have been brainwashed into believing the lies you will not be free. DrankKooAid and Joined the Cult

Manymeez at Coffegrounds also wrote INSIDE THE ADULT MIND OF AN ABUSED CHILD: lessons in hope and change that can be learned, discussing the chaos of the process of healing.

Career Exploration: Thinking of becoming a professional psychiatric patient ? is a lighthearted look at the life of a psychiatric patient. This post is from a new blogger, and a new personal friend of mine, Tina. You can find more of her work at Why Can’t the Past Just Die? This is well worth the read… but only if you promise to giggle, as she intended it.

 

In The News

After reading an article about a 90 year old man in Massachusetts, his audacity to complain about the ordinances set up in his town to keep predators away from children. This man is the poster child for the ordinances. This is my response to/feelings about the article. A Poster Child for the SOR Ordinances that are Following

Sometimes what you read in the news has a deep, profound affect on you. It did for Jen at One Plus Two, so she wrote Asleep On the Couch.

 

Poetry

Two very talented survivors shared some of their deepest thoughts through poetry.  

Stephanie Gagos submitted Dead Bones as a Guest Writer.

L. Monique from Blackberry Alter submitted It All Started. ”This poem is a part of my book, The Swallow Project: A guide to consuming obsession.”

 

Survivor Stories

Learning to heal from the abuse is a story I found in an Iowa newspaper about a woman named Lauren Farrell who is healing, and is helping others to heal in Des Moines. She has started a support group called SetPhree.

The Day I Nearly Died is a terrifying story of abuse at the hands of Annaleigh’s father. Please be aware this could trigger severly. Annaleigh shares her other thoughts at Blessed Fearscapes.

 

Confronting your abuser

In June, on Father’s Day, I confronted my father aka Osama bin Sperm Donor (ObSD for short). I spent months writing a letter to him, and in Confronting My Father (a category, instead of just a post), I describe the days and moments leading up to the moment I stood infront of him, the moments and days after, and what this confrontation meant to me.

 

Inspiration to heal

Mike from Child Abuse Survivor sent along Inspiration is a Funny Thing, sharing with us what set his wheels in motion to heal.

Marj, the founder of Survivors Can Thrive and this Blog Carnival shared an old favorite of mine, From Surving to Thriving.  “This early blog entry tells about my motivation…also my motivation to blog.”

What is to Give Light Must Endure Burning talks about how this quote by Viktor Frankl inspires Tina at Why Can’t the Past Just Die? to move forward when she begins ”to think like a victim and revel in self-pity.”

 

The Holidays

Holidays, submitted by April_optimist at The Thrivers Toolbox, was written “because it is such a common issue–how to deal with gift giving at this time of year. Maybe this will make it a little easier.”

Annaleigh at Blessed Fearscapes also shares Taking Back Christmas… for Me!. “This post deals with how I learned to have Christmas traditions that counter the evil that was often done to me as a child during Christmastime!”

 

Healing Projects & Rituals/Celebrations

I didn’t receive any submissions for either of these categories, and I didn’t have time to write what I wanted to write for these categories. Sometimes I miss the insomnia stage of my life. Perhaps in a future edition of the Carnival, we will have the chance to share our thoughts and experiences.

This concludes this edition of the Carnival Against Child Abuse. Thank you again for the contributions, and for reading the postings. I hope you are inspired to heal, and to fight back against child abuse. I look forward to hosting the Carnival again.

I wish you all a safe, peaceful and happy holiday, and a bright and shiny New Year filled with healthy thoughts, safe journeys, and the strength and courage to find peace within yourselves!