Building Healthy Relationships After Sexual Abuse
Learn how to develop safe, fulfilling relationships built on trust and understanding. Discover practical approaches to creating meaningful connections while respecting your boundaries.
Understanding Healthy Relationships
Healthy relationships are built on mutual respect, trust, and clear communication. After sexual abuse, building or rebuilding relationships can feel challenging, but with understanding and support, it's possible to create meaningful connections that respect your boundaries and support your wellbeing.
Common Challenges in Building Relationships
Many survivors experience difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships. Understanding these challenges helps us address them with care:
Difficulty trusting new people
Uncertainty about physical and emotional boundaries
Struggles with intimacy and closeness
Fear of being vulnerable
Challenges in communicating needs
Difficulty recognising healthy relationship patterns
Understanding Relationship Recovery
Creating Strong Foundations
Learning to set, communicate, and maintain healthy boundaries that make you feel safe and respected.
Developing skills to express your needs, feelings, and concerns openly and honestly.
Taking relationships at your own pace, allowing trust to develop naturally over time.
Survivor Resources & Research
Learning from other survivors journeys can be a powerful tool, and make you feel much less alone. Access specialist articles, survivor stories, and evidence-based research about childhood sexual violence recovery and support.
Articles and guides covering trauma responses, recovery stages, and practical support strategies for survivors of childhood sexual violence.
A curated collection of poems written by survivors of sexual abuse, sharing personal experiences of trauma, healing, and recovery. *Please note that whilst this content is moderated you may find some of it triggering so please take care*
Key findings from our research , revealing crucial insights into sexual violence and abuse, how survivors access support services, costs to the NHS and survivor experiences, and more
With your support, we can help more survivors access the support they need when they need it. Every donation directly funds our work to supporting those affected by sexual violence.