#465 Briana W. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

I still struggle putting this down on print and still have the shame that the church issued to me with my abuse. When I was approximately 7/8 years old I walked the few blocks to my cousins house to play. We lived in a very safe are of Sandy Utah and this was a common…

#463 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,6,7

I was sexually abused by my step-brother when I was an eight year old girl. It continued for two years. My family was broken and dysfunctional and there was no adult I felt I could talk to. Like many victims of sexual abuse, I kept it to myself for years. I was never asked any…

#461 Sandra W. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

How do I even begin to try and explain the damage being abused as a child has caused me. I was 6, we had been friends with this family for a few years, our families did a preschool co-op together. My friend was the same age as me. We had play dates, saw each other…

#460 Name Hidden. CS: 1,3,4,7,8

My story starts outside of church. From the age of seven, I experienced sexual assault and harassment from multiple sources. Other children, adults I knew, perfect strangers. As an example, without revealing some of the more traumatic experiences, when I was eleven or twelve, I was out shopping and the proprietor of the store approached…

#458 Name Hidden. CS: 1,3.6.7

I went on my own accord to visit the bishop with my then boyfriend, whom I loved very much. We had been sexually active, but decided we’d really like to “make things right”. I was terrified to have to talk to anyone about this, but decided it was the right thing to do to confess.…

#457 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7

When I was 16 years old I moved to a new ward in Herriman, Utah. The first day at church right when we walked in the door we happened to meet the bishop. After my mom had talked to him for a few minutes and she had started talking to someone else, he then came…

#456 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

When I was 7 years old I had my first worthiness interview a few weeks before I turned 8 and would be baptized. The bishop already knew that I was being abused at home and told me that I was a sinner and needed to repent because I was not being a worthy daughter and…

#455 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,6,7,8

It wasn’t the interviews so much as a combination of the interviews with the fire-and-brimstone chastity lessons. Masturbation was described as an incredibly selfish and shameful act. Then we got the For The Strength of Youth pamphlet which called sexual sins “next to murder”. Then came the interviews asking about masturbation and the copy of…

#451 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

My father was both a Bishop and a Stake President for almost my entire childhood. Both of my parents were very well known and respected in our small Mormon community. Nobody outside of our family knew the extreme psychological, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that was happening behind our perfect facade. I wonder how many…