To be vulnerable is not to be a victim

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Embracing vulnerability is hard for all of us. It's especially tough if you want to shed the label of “victim”, as so many survivors of sexual trauma strive to do. For most of my life, I equated vulnerability with victimhood, and by drawing that connection, didn't want to give my vulnerability the proper space in which to express itself. It wasn't until early 2019, after more than twenty years of sorting through my childhood abuse and its aftermath, that I came to an empowering realisation about shame and vulnerability, and I wanted to use the TEDx platform to share my insight. To anyone recovering from the trauma of sexual violence, I hope this talk speaks to you.