Just a note, this report contains discussion of sexual abuse.
Tracy Harrison, the executive director of Wilmington-based nonprofit, Keep Your Hands Off Me, Inc., is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). She pulls on her own experience to explain why these incidents are under-reported.
“I mean, my dad once asked me, he made a statement, if anybody ever touch you, you tell me and I'll kill them," Harrison told WHQR. “Well, it's kind of hard to tell your dad that who's touching you is somebody that they know.”
In 90% of incidents, she said, the abuser is someone the victim knows, and it could take years for a person to unpack what was done to them as a child.
She shares what it was like when she was old enough to realize what had been done to her.
“At this point, I'm big, I'm a teenager, so I realized now it's wrong. But all those years that I was little, I didn't know it was wrong," she said. “I was angry. I was I was mad. Before I graduated high school, I'd had over 30 fights. So I would take it out on other people, because hurt people, hurt people.”
Acting out in violence is one of a few behavioral symptoms of CSA. Victims may also experience anxiety, self-blame, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress such as flashbacks and nightmares of their abuse.
“So, yeah, healing is, is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and I'm I'm grateful for it, but it is… it takes time, it takes effort, it takes accountability, but anybody can do it," she said.
Now, through her organization, Harrison remains committed to helping other people develop their own resilience. Last year alone, Keep Your Hands Off Me helped over 3,000 people.
“We do a six week molestation survivor boot camp. We do sexual trauma support groups," Harrison said.
They offer that, and a whole wealth of other services Harrison said, but even with these supports, people must commit to the process.
“There is, there's going to be an isolation period. There's going to be a period where it feels like everything is falling apart, but in reality, it's all falling together," she said.
Harrison founded Keep Your Hands Off Me five years ago, and she has held an annual Molestation Survivor Walk ever since — bringing together a community of people in various phases of the healing journey.
The 1.5-mile walk is held at Long Leaf Park on Saturday, October 11, and starts at 12 p.m. this year.
The walk will conclude with a free family cookout with live performances and face painting. People can register for the walk online or at the park the day of.
