I was sixteen years old, and dating my first serious girlfriend. Things were great, but they moved really fast. It was barely a month in before she told me that she loved me and I replied in kind. I don't know if I did, or if I just loved feeling loved, but that's the way it went. We fooled around a little, but when she wanted to have intercourse I told her that I wasn't ready. Everything was so new to me, and it was confusing.

She left my house in tears.

I felt horrible. I didn't want to make her cry, but I didn't want to have sex with her yet. And surely that meant something was wrong with me, because what sixteen-year-old boy doesn't want to have sex? The next day she apologized, and things got back to normal. Except she tried again, and this time, I didn't feel like I could stop her. I didn't want to have sex with her. I didn't want that to be my first time. But I didn't want to make her cry again, so when she straddled me I didn't say anything.

For a long time, I didn't really think it could have been assault. I didn't say "no," so it couldn't possibly have been rape. I could have fought her off, but I didn't, so I must have wanted it, right?

Over the last six months, I've received a lot of information and training. I joined a group on campus that acts out scenes to educate other students about the realities of sexual assault. We were also trained to look for the signs of abuse and taught what sexual assault really is.

That's when I learned that it wasn't my fault. It didn't matter that I didn't voice my "no." It didn't matter that I didn't push her away. I did not say yes. I did not give consent. What happened to me was rape.

I said yes to touching and Oral. I was not asked if sex was ok. Suddenly I didn't have the luxury of choice. He was 19, I was 14. I seized up (anxiety and fear will do that) and could not talk. I mostly repressed it, but he knew where I lived and I was terrified he would come back for me. For years I couldn't stay home alone. My current, wonderful SO, helped me get the help I needed when it all came back two years ago at the age of 18. Counseling helped me move past it. I don't even think the man who did this knows I viewed it as non-consensual. It was most definitely not consensual. I told my story to a friend and she told me it wasn't rape, I just regretted having sex. That was a kick in the stomach. I want to let everyone with this story know, it's ok to say it, it was still assault.

Edit: Forgot the link! http://imgur.com/ytHku

He told me not to tell anyone, I would lose my job. He said, "Don't worry, it's just my shit. You're still a virgin," when he came but I didn't bleed. For years, I couldn't stand it when a strange man touched me, even if it was just a brush against me in a crowded room. I couldn't stand people be physically close. It took me six years to start feeling good about myself and seven to start feeling happy and be in a relationship that didn't feel f***ed up.

Now I'm happy with life and my SO is wonderful. We've been together for four years now and he has never once treated me poorly. I'm here to say to everyone, stay strong. It can, and likely will, get better.

Please post Project Unbreakable pictures, stories, and support here!

http://projectunbreakable.tumblr.com/

We are trying to get some of the traffic off of twoX so people can avoid being triggered and get to other stories.

I have been keeping an eye on the PU submissions that people have been posting and I thought I would submit my own story.

I was young boy (about 4-5) and my parents sent me and my older brother (10-11) to a babysitter. She had two sons, one the same age as me and my brother. Not too long after we started going there the older son would drag me from playing with his brother and take me into the basement room where he would continually molest me for the next 5 years. His constant excuse was he needed my help killing a spider, and afterwards he would always tell me I can't tell anyone because it would be 'My word against his' and "since I'm older they'll believe me." We switched sitters after they moved, but still my brother and I would go see them because I did enjoy playing with the younger brother, my family had no idea what was happening.

One night while sleeping over he brought me to the crawlspace in the basement to once again molest me. When in the middle of it he heard his mother coming down the stairs. He went to go and stop her from coming in, but she pushed past him and saw me there on the floor. She was shocked and got me home. My Family was outraged at him, and upset that they had no idea. I had to go to the police station to give my statement. I found out he had being doing this to other kids my age as well.

I had to see several counsellors and talk about these things over and over again. It may seem strange, but at that age, meeting a stranger and going through years of abuse always made me not want to talk about it. I would just keep answers short and would want to just get out of there.

I always have said I will never let this get me down, I will fight against abuse. I am now married to a wonderful wife (she knows about this) And I try to stay positive.

Finally, I want to end this on as much of a positive note as I can. I want everyone who reads this to know that no matter what, I am here for you, if you are a victim of abuse then I want you to know I am your brother, I will do anything to help. You are a wonderful person who did not deserve to have what happened to you happen. If you need support or an ear to listen I am here. Be Strong, Be Wonderful, and most of all never be afraid to reach out.

I grew up in a divorced house. My parents got married when I was three and went throw three years of a terrrrriiible marriage. My mother would come home to everything in our apartment being gone except a duffle bag of my things and hers, a few days later there would be a call from my dad who was in Las Vegas with his family. This happened multiple times before they got divorced.

After their divorce my father stayed in the state, staying with different girlfriends, and every now and again I'd stay with him for a week or so. One time (I was 8 at the time) he dragged me out to a nowhere city to stay with him for two weeks with his new wife and her daughter. This town was a good few hours from where my mom and her family were so I was already pretty upset. My new step-sister was really nice and helpful (she was 16) and caring she took me out with her and some friends for lunch and swimming. We got home late that afternoon and after supper I was still fairly upset (I’m very much a mommy’s girl!) Well my step-sister offered to let me stay in her bed with her. She told me she always slept with her stereo that loud and that it would help me sleep better. She scared me for the next two-weeks into not saying anything to my father. Not hard considering I was 8 -.- Luckily for me though, history held true and my father divorced her mother before I was sentenced to another visit. However, I did still have to visit my father from time to time. When I was 10 my father was living with some relatives, who live in the same city as my mother and I. Well I was “invited” by my father to come and stay at my uncle’s house and spend time with some cousins, and I did. I was with them for about 3 days and all we did was laugh and play and run around and have a good time. They didn’t have a very large house, so I was sharing a room with my cousin. She was 13. She got away with it because our parents spent their nights getting drunk.

Over the course of the past three years (17 – 19) I was diagnosed with certain metal health issues “that don’t pop up on their own” and was eventually forced to see a therapist who demand full disclosure, and granted there are many sob stories throughout my life my therapist harassed me and would pick on me for these two incidents. Reminding me that it doesn’t count I was so young and that it was “So rare for a child to be molested by two females on two separate occasions, I HAD to be making it up.” This was the first person I’ve ever told and that’s all she had to say about it…I’ve told one other person since then and it felt good to have someone believe me.

Also, at one point this therapist claimed, I had been "joining in" and experimenting"

Because he won't post it, nor openly admit it.

When my husband, who at the time was my boyfriend, and I lived together with his parents; he always made friends with the neighbors and often spent more of his time with them. A couple who lived on the floor below us, had two daughters and since we had a daughter as well, we often went to visit them. After awhile, I noticed the wife was a liar and I stopped visiting but my husband and the male downstairs were becoming close friends.

One night, he and the other male had gotten quite drunk and instead of coming back upstairs, he crashed on their couch. He has no idea how long he was asleep but he woke up after he realized something was off. He noticed that the wife had managed to get his penis out of his pants and was giving him a blow job. He said he asked her to stop and she ignored him so he shoved her off, in the process she scraped her teeth along his penis enough to draw some blood.

He went and got STD tested without ever telling me. He rejected my sexual advances couple of weeks and put a strain on our relationship because he had been hurt and didn't want me to know. He actually never told me until the year we were getting married. He blamed himself and I told him it was not his fault; getting drunk is not an invitation to anyone. No matter what gender you are.

Thank you for letting me share.

(Edit: I a word)

My mother grew up in an abusive household. With a step-father who was mentally, physically, and sexually abusive; a mother who was not there; and two sisters whom she loved. My mother was sexually abused by her step-father on a regular basis, she was the 'favorite' of her sisters. Being young and ignorant at the age of 17, she got pregnant from her boyfriend at the time. Although she had announced her pregnancy, her step-father did not cease. As her belly grew, the rape only increased. In fear for her child, my mother ran. Her sisters were less successful and lived out their entire childhood years in the household. By the time my mom had the courage to take the man to court, it was already too late. They said that there was no evidence that the courts could use against him and there was nothing she could do. Take control. Speak out.

I want to encourage the brave men and women who have submitted to Project Unbreakable to continue to post to more public subreddits so the world can see what a problem sexual assault, abuse and rape is. In my understanding, this project isnot meant to be pushed aside because a few people want to ignore a problem that's right under their noses. Get out there, speak out and make a difference.

I know at least one person in 2X already posted a thank you because seeing so many Project Unbreakable posts helped her end a toxic relationship. What you are saying is being heard. Don't let anyone try to silence you.

I don't want to make a picture post.

I was intoxicated, so was he. I was hoping we'd get some time alone to just hang out; I wanted to be his best friend, maybe something more but I wasn't ready for anything physical.

He started kissing me and I said "this is a bad idea!" and he kept going. I was too drunk to say more. We had sex briefly and I fell asleep, too drunk to really care about arguing it.

This is when it gets upsetting. He woke me up and said "let me finish," as he had what he called "whiskey dick" earlier. I was more sober now, and said "It's a bad idea I don't want to, you're my friend. You're my friend" and continued to argue.

He yelled "Just shut up and fuck me." And I gave up. I wanted him to like me and to be happy. He had sex with me without a condom, which I had never done and didn't want to do. The next day we went to breakfast and I told him what happened, and he cried about his own previous abuse. I comforted him. "I'm sorry you were only a child."

No one said sorry to me! I feel like I was a child then. I feel like I was violated and I don't know if it even "counts." None of my friends gave up on him. He tried to date my best friend afterwards saying "I want to date someone like you...but normal." I HELPED HIM DATE HER...until it bothered me too much that I told her what happened.

Does it even count? Not sure, but I'll never forget... "Just shut up and fuck me."

Here is my story: It was at a party in my second year of uni. I am in a program with mostly guys and almost done third year now. A bunch of friends and I were having a good time, drinking and the like. I was sitting on the stairs when he came up to me, handed me an open beer and sat down to chat. I don't drink beer so I didn't have any.

He carried me up the stairs from a room full of people into an empty bedroom, one of my friends followed shortly after. He rubbed by back for a few minutes and then ripped off my pants.

I managed to get away thanks to the fact that there was someone else in the room. Thank god I didn't drink that beer. I had handed it to the friend who followed us up, he didn't remember much of the night. After this we grabbed our other friends and got a taxi.

This guy is in all of my classes at school and involved with many social activities. Most recently he has become one of the poster boys for a fundraising campaign. It doesn't seem like I will ever be able to escape the guy that almost raped me.

So. Since my therapist doesn't like to talk about it and I'm stressed just thought i would vent a bit. In August I got out of the sex trade. I had been in it since I was six years old and my parents would farm me out to their friends for travel and prostitution. As I got older my handlers changed up, as did the clientele. I started bondage around the time i was 10 and it kept up from there. When I realized how trapped I was tried to press charges, file a case with NCMEC - there was no evidence. The months proceeding getting out were a blur of assault, and trying to keep the level in my minimum wage temp job so i could leave with some money. I'm 27 now. Now when i hear about trafficking support bills that are stalled in congress, when i look at the $500 i have left to support me until i find another job, or think about how i need a new phone, or can't afford to pay rent or get a car, i am so angry i could break the computer. When i think about how i might have to ask my parents for money soon, or how my siblings can't support me in this because they didn't experience it. When i think about my therapist not wanting to hear about the violent fucked up shit that i don't have anyone else to talk to about, and how i can't afford another one. How my family would pay for one...it's just hard. all i want is to be normal and make money and not worry about all this fucked up shit i am working so hard to leave behind. I know there is no justice for what i went through, i just want to be normal. It's been six months of shelters, and now i need a fucking job, and nothings changed. no one's in jail. No one will be. it's just me out here. i just want to be normal and worry about stupid normal things. but i've been able to cry more often. So that is a start.

Random organizational stuff:

The spam filter has caught 4 or 5 posts so far. I'm working on finding out how to change it. In the meantime, I'll try to go look at the spam filter every day to let the normal posts out of it.

I'm new to being a mod, so I'm still learning how to run things around here. I'm thinking about adding another mod so when I get really busy with school or can't get online there is someone to reply to messages and save things from the spam folder. If you'd like to be a mod please pm me and we'll see if you can help.

I've had messages about trolls and people being mean on the forum. If you see someone who keeps posting unwelcome things (like victim blaming stuff) message the mods. For these first couple days we are just going to hope they go away since they've already been downvoted to oblivion, but if they stay around we'll ban them. Once everything is up and running (Probably 5-7 days) we'll be quicker to ban people.

I'm impressed with how many people signed up in just one day! Thanks!

So I feel horrible posting this hear but ive been wrestling with it for a while and could use some advice if there's a better subreddit let me know. Anyhow I'm 16 and was at school. My teacher need to take some papers down to the office and myself and two guys went down. And on the way up they were I'd like to believe joking and grabbed my arms and started dragging me into the known scary hall of our school. I was punching them saying stop. And all they said was "why do you thing we brought you along". Thank god one of the school jocks was behind to get them off me or I don't know what would have happened. This obviously had me a little shook up. Not to mention scared shitless. But the part I need advice on is after that all went down I was in a period of shock and after getting caught making some poor decisions came clean with what all had been going on in my life including that incident. I refused my stepdad of taking and repercussionary actions, but made me tell my dad. Who I kid you not the first time I visited his house after that had my cousin bin me down and.. Used his hand to analy penetrate me. I have so much hate for this man. I'm ashamed to call him my father. I haven't told anyone this. This is also a throw away account because I don't know how to make self post.

Not proof reading, I just need to get this out here.

Photo.

I kept it hidden for 4 years, until I was watching the first episode of Dexter and it all came spilling out to my current boyfriend. I didn't go into a lot of detail, just the basics so I could stop crying. From the abuse, I have TMJ. Every summer I get nightmares of the event and they continue until about November. I wake up terrified that he will come into my window like he used to and abuse me again. I can't sleep alone anymore without having panic attacks. Recently, I found out he moved away; I am hoping that these nightmares and panic attacks with lessen more. I knew him for about 3 years before we decided to go out, I have been in crappy relationships before him so I tried to be cautious; nothing stood out as a red flag to me or my friends, so I went for it. I don't remember much after sitting on his bed with him and watching a movie. He was also psychologically abusive, twisting everything I thought was logical into something that I believed was illogical. To this day, I still get random triggers of these "psychological time bombs" (which is what I call them) from something as innocent as holding my boyfriend's hand.

I hope that all of you guys are doing well, I have submitted my photo in hope that it helps someone else speak up. Because I know he has done this to other women, and I want them to know that they are not alone.