Do you know the signs of child sexual abuse?
Physical signs
Difficulty walking or sitting
Bloody, torn, or stained underclothes
Bleeding, bruises, or swelling in genital area
Pain, itching, or burning in genital area
Frequent urinary or yeast infections
Behavioral signs
Shrinks away or seems threatened by physical contact
Exhibits signs of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder
Expresses suicidal thoughts, especially in adolescents
Self-harms
Develops phobias
Has trouble in school, such as absences or drops in grades
Changes in hygiene, such as refusing to bathe or bathing excessively
Returns to regressive behaviors, such as thumb sucking
Runs away from home or school
Overly protective and concerned for siblings, or assumes a caretaker role
Nightmares or bed-wetting
Inappropriate sexual knowledge or behaviors
*Source: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
Where can I get help?
If you want to talk to someone anonymously, call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 800.4.A.CHILD (422-4453), any time 24/7.
Learn more about being an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse.
To speak with someone who is trained to help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at online.rainn.org.
Eudoxie Bridges’ life is good these days.
She’s a mother and is writing her first book. She lives a very comfortable life with her husband rapper/actor Christopher Bridges aka Ludacris.
Never far from her thoughts, however, is a little girl from a village in Gabon.
“Countless young girls are getting abused and they don’t have a place to run,” said Bridges. “Where do they go?”
The 29-year-old Bridges is the founder of the Unspoken Angels Foundation, a nonprofit she started in 2013 to empower, support and educate girls and young women who have experienced verbal, sexual and physical abuse.
Bridges speaks from experience. She was that little girl.
Bridges was sexually abused by relatives, beginning at a young age until her teenage years. One of the men who molested her also raped a cousin, who became pregnant.
For years, Bridges lived with the guilt of not speaking out sooner.
That happens too often. Bridges said 68 percent of abuse is never reported to police and most sexual abusers will never spend a night in jail.
Women often feel ashamed or guilty, believing that somehow they brought the abuse upon themselves.
“What can we do?,” she said. “It has to start with us.” She said her organization helps deal “with the shame and hurt.”
Bridges, who recently spoke for the first time to the media about her experience, will be be one of the speakers Saturday during the Women 2 Women Annual Conference, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Omni Atlanta Hotel downtown.
The conference, founded by Sonjia Young, focuses on bringing together women to learn from each other’s challenges and successes while operating in corporate America, serving in their homes and in their communities.
Topics include building stronger communities, advocacy in health, inequality of pay and protection of women and children.
Bridges, who speaks with young women and girls shelters and at youth program, said her goal is to “bring them into a comforting environment.” One day, she hopes to open a women’s facility and to expand her program to Africa as well.
“African culture is big on man power,” said Bridges, who admits taking her program there “is a little risky for me. Trust, once I start here and my foundation is strong enough here, I’ll return to my homeland” to help.
It was not an easy road for her to reach this place.
“I had bad dreams,” said Bridges, who is writing a book about her life, which she hopes to publish later this year. “I had nightmares. I had to go to counseling. I felt like I was at the point where I could go left into a depression. I was crying a lot every day.”
She prayed and prayed. While she started her foundation to help others, she quickly learned it also helped her.
“It made me feel empowered,” said Bridges. Hearing the stories of other women who had been abused “helped me get strong.” They were not alone.
“I had to remove the label, “victim” from myself,” she said. “If anything, I was going to use this experience and turn it into a positive. Life is too precious…You have to learn to move forward and enjoy life.”
One of her biggest supporters has been her husband. She once wondered how her speaking out about her own experience would affect him.
“My husband is my best friend and confidant,” she said. “He is very supportive of my dreams, aspirations and goals. When I shared my story with him he encouraged me to share my story and made me understand how many women and young girls would benefit from it.”
After all, challenges are part of life.
Says Bridges, “If you believe in God, he will get you out of any out of any impossible situation and get you to your purpose.”.
The event:
Women 2 Women Annual Conference
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Omni Atlanta Hotel, 100 CNN Center NW
Cost: $199 and registration is available at the door.
Alicia Philipp, president of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, will present the keynote address during the 2016 Dr. Maya Angelou Phenomenal Woman Awards Luncheon. Honorees include Bishop Barbara King, founder of Hillside International Truth Center; and Dr. Camille Davis-Williams, founder of Greater Atlanta Women’s Healthcare. Speakers also include: Sarah-Elizabeth Reed, first lady of Atlanta; the Rev. Natasha Reid Rice, associate pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church; and Dr. Kathleen Hall, founder of the Stress Institute and Mindful Living Network.
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