sexual abuse

‘A long time coming’: These Muslims are bringing sex abuse by sheikhs out of the shadows

For Sidrah Ahmad-Chan, the moment felt surreal. Listening to a Muslim psychologist speaking about patterns of abuse while on stage at the American Islamic College on Saturday (Jan. 11), she pulled up Twitter. “First panel discussion and I am already reeling,” typed Ahmad-Chan, a Toronto-based researcher studying gender-based violence and…

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Poem: “My Sisters”

For my sisters everywhere who have suffered, or are suffering, sexual abuse. My sisters. Your little shoulders were meant to carry the lightness of innocence; the wonder of childhood. Your souls were meant to soar; tethered to the Divine, far above this lowly place. But a heavy burden was thrust…

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Nadiah Mohajir

I…work to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health issues in the Muslim community… Who are you? I have multiple identities, and because I am in a constant state of multitasking, you will often see me embodying more than one identity at a time. I am a Muslim American. I am…

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Reclaiming my life after sexual abuse: Part II

I was extremely fortunate that my friend’s family reacted exactly as I needed them to. Oftentimes people don’t know how to respond to news of sexual abuse (which is the result of our communities refusing to talk about it). Therefore denial and anger are often the knee-jerk reactions. However on top of the terror of coming forward, negative reactions can be permanently damaging to the victim (as I had experienced at 13), and I’m so grateful that this is not how my friend and her family reacted.

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Reclaiming my life after sexual abuse: Part I

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung
“The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” – Caroline Myss
Since I was 8 years old, I have felt as though two starkly different versions of myself existed inside me, constantly at war with each other. One version grew up as expected, appearing as a confident adult woman to the outside world. The other remained a stifled, insecure child imprisoned within.

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