Where Can I Run She Ran. She Survived. She Spoke. She Healed.

As a survivor of sexual abuse, I know firsthand the devastation it causes. Over time, I began noticing that many women I encountered behaved in ways that felt deeply familiar. Sometimes almost identical to my own. I found myself wondering if they, too, had experienced abuse. One by one, as I got to know these women and listened to their stories, I discovered that they had.

Driven by a need to understand the lasting effects of childhood sexual abuse, I traveled across the country speaking with women from different races, backgrounds, and belief systems. What I found was both heartbreaking and eye-opening: no matter their age, culture, or circumstances, their stories shared striking similarities. At times, it felt as though I was interviewing the same woman again and again.

This experience revealed to me that the dynamics of sexual abuse are tragically consistent. The manipulation, the silence, the shame, it all followed patterns that seemed almost rehearsed. Many of the women spoke with such similar experiences that it felt as if they had collaborated, but they had never met.

The women in this book chose to share their stories not for attention, but to release the burden they had carried for years and to help others who may still be suffering in silence. To protect their identities, they are referred to as cases, an indication of how deeply the shame of abuse still lingers, even though it is a burden that belongs only to the abuser.

My own story is included among theirs.

The words, grammar, and sentence structure in these accounts remain largely unchanged. This was intentional. I wanted readers to hear each woman’s voice exactly as she expressed it, unfiltered and honest. Some stories may feel incomplete, but they reflect what each woman was able to share at the time.

This book is part of the Looking Through the Corn Stalks series.

The second book, Where Can I Hide, explores the long-term effects the abuse had on these women.

The third book, Who Can I Turn To, examines how they coped and, for some, how they found healing.

A companion series, Peeking Through the Cornstalks Too, shares the voices of male survivors. Stories that opened my eyes to a reality many people still overlook, males are abused too..

My hope is that by bringing these voices into the light, we can begin to release the shame that has kept so many survivors silent for far too long.