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[quote=Anonymous]The disclosure of Alice Munro's daughter being sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 9 has got me thinking. It really hit home as a Canadian and also someone with a similar story. During a several months period while my mother was away in China  leaving my dad to be in charge of 4 kids aged 7-13 my father sexually abused me. I had just turned 12 years old and had an older sister but was more physically mature than my sister.

I didn't tell mother or my siblings. It impacted me then- I started wearing concealing sweatshirts even when it was really warm out - I remember classmates asking why I was wearing a jacket all the time, as if to hide my body so no one would be tempted to touch me. And it has impacted my relationships - looking back, in my teens and as a young adult, I was fairly sexually promiscuous. If I could go back, I would my younger self to be more selective about who I shared my body with and I would tell myself to value more the person I was, and understand that giving myself to someone was a special thing, and that I should make sure that person was worthy of me.

I expected to carry this secret to my grave and live with the pain of being let down by the adults who were supposed to protect me. As a child I was aware that telling my mother would do no good - there was no way she would leave and no way she would confront my father, who was also and still is, an extremely verbally  abusive man. My mother has never been a comforter and at some level I was aware she would not be supportive if told her.

Now I wonder if it would be helpful for me to disclose to my siblings. I don't see any value in confronting my father who is now in his 80s and I still don't think my mother will react in the way I would want.

But as my parents age, there are more caregiving needs. I happen to live the closest to my parents and it seems they expect me to step up to the plate.  I have mostly distanced myself from my parents, and it works for me.

I'd like to disclose to my siblings so they understand why I have not had, and do not want, a close relationship with my parents, why my personal life has been messed up and why I have often chosen to stay away from "family" events. Our entire family is emotionally distant, it's not likely anyone will rush in and say anything comforting. We also come from a sexually repressed culture and do not even talk or joke about anything remotely sexual. And it's possible they may not even believe me. It would really be for me, to lift this burden, this secret, that I have been carrying for most of my life.

For anyone who has been abused as a child and later disclosed this as an adult to your siblings or other family members, how did you decide to disclose this information? I thought of simply sending an email that mentions the Alice Munro story and making a simple statement without details. But I don't have any language for this- no one teaches you how to do this because it's taboo  to talk about.[/quote]

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