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“Nobody on earth can love you more than your parents,” goes the age-old belief. Maybe that is the very reason why innumerable instances of parental abuse in almost every household go unacknowledged every day.
I am not speaking of parents who rape and beat their children to death making it straight up to the news headlines. I am speaking specifically of the ones who abuse with the utmost subtlety.
Do you remember the first time when the kisses and cuddles given by your mom or dad didn’t feel affectionate but made you feel rather uncomfortable; when that overdose of love made you nearly cringe; when you got conditioned to stay silent and even feel guilty for thinking that way? Well, it doesn’t end here.
I’ve literally heard of and even witnessed parents who consider something as obnoxious as ass-grabbing to be a common parental ritual for expressing affection towards their children (which at times continues even after they’ve reached adulthood)! Are these oldsters so dumb to realise that it isn’t affection but borderline sexual harassment?
Also Read: LivED It: What Is It Like To Be Sexually Abused By Other Women?
Any mark of protest is either yelled at or worse, laughed at because you’re just a baby to them (specifically when it comes to their defense)!
No matter if they boil your blood, if you ever retaliate then you become the wrongdoer!
And after all this they expect us to put them before Gods? For real?
You can easily report and distance yourself from anyone making inappropriate advances toward you. But it’s a challenge when that person is none other than your parent. Not to mention that you have to live with them 24×7 under the same roof at their mercy.
Not only does it make you surrender vulnerably but it also tarnishes the slightest happy memory you have of them, negating every good thing they ever do for you, leaving you in a state of utter despair and self-doubt. This is the very reason why parental abuse hits the worst.
To all silent victims of parental abuse, you have the full bodily autonomy to decide how you perceive a touch, gesture, or even a comment and respond to it. You have every right to express your discomfort and report it if it isn’t rightly addressed. Because if you don’t stand for yourself, no one ever will.
To all abusive parents out there, if your urge to express ‘affection’ is more important than your child’s dignity and mental health, then you deserve hell. And in case you wonder why your child isn’t on good terms with you even when you’re providing for them uncompromisingly, I hope you now know the reason.
Better late than never.
Source: Blogger’s own experience
Image Source: Google Images
Find the blogger: @ParomaDey
Feature Image designed by Saudamini Seth
We do not hold any right/copyright over any of the images used. These have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
Read More:
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