Ritual Abuse Thread

[Guest lam_scot]

I just wonder....and I have`nt spoken to anyone else who uses the ritual abuse thread if it would be possible for it to be password protected like the male / female specific threads? I dont know if I`m on my own with this (probably, I am) and if I am, please just forget it.

I know AS is a really supportive place .

I think it`s only natural that people get curious about what`s said in specific threads that are`nt applicable to them(as a female, I have at times wondered what gets posted about in the male only forum).

I have posted about some fairly graphic and triggering things in the RA thread, as have others.

RA related posts (like speaking face to face) can be misunderstood / confusing for people who were`nt RA. I know that each of us here on AS have very unique experiences of sexual abuse and / or rape.

I`m not getting this typed very clearly.... I don`t want to cause offence, and maybe I`m completely wrong here.

Ok, that`s it...sorry if I`m just being over sensitive to these things.

Anna

Edited April 18, 2009 by lam_scot

[vorpalblade]

by what you are saying then every board has the right to be password protected then..

[Guest]

Hi Anna,

We're discussing this among ourselves and we'll issue a decision on this matter soon.

Thank you for the suggestion--we're always looking to improve as a community and create a safer space for you all.

[Guest lam_scot]

I`m not getting this typed very clearly.... I don`t want to cause offence, and maybe I`m completely wrong here.

Ok, that`s it...sorry if I`m just being over sensitive to these things.

Anna

I don`t think I did get it written very clearly, and I`m sorry vorpalblade, if I did cause offence (all I can say is that it was`nt intended if I did). :sorry:

by what you are saying then every board has the right to be password protected then..

I was`nt saying anyone on AS should have any special "rights" (I don`t think female / male survivors are given extra rights by having password protected forums). Sorry if that`s how my post sounded.

Hi Anna,

We're discussing this among ourselves and we'll issue a decision on this matter soon.

Thank you for the suggestion--we're always looking to improve as a community and create a safer space for you all.

Thanks, Ashley Michelle . I think AS is a safe place, already (sorry if my original post did`nt reflect that).

[Guest]

Hi folks,

After talking about the issue amongst ourselves, we've come to the decisions that, for the time being, we will not be creating a separate sub-forum for Ritual Abuse. While we understand that the nature of Ritual Abuse, particularly the widespread denial by the legal community, presents a completely separate set of challenges for survivors, there are several factors critical to our reasoning.

To begin with, the primary concern of AS will always be to offer a healing environment for survivors of all forms of sexual violence. Several years ago, we had members who wanted to separate the Board by types of violence survived, such as childhood sexual abuse, incest and acquaintance rape. We did not hesitate to dismiss that idea because what makes our little corner of net space safe is the cohesiveness of our community. We are already drastically different by demographics--age, race, sex, etc.--but partitioning out the Board, particularly by the mantle under which our victimization falls, undermines our effectiveness as a community. And many survivors here fall into more than one "category."

Along those same lines, we cannot possibly create enough specialized forums to address every type of sexual violence, nor would we want to. While we want to honor differences of individual stories and respect them, when we engage in dialogues about isolating members due to their respective backstories, we're allowing the differences to divide and define us.

As always, healing remains the priority for all members of the AfterSilence community, and we feel that the best way to facilitate this is to promote similarities over differences. Exposure to survivors from all walks of life is critical to this process, and why we will not be creating a separate forum at this time.

We have, however, relocated the thread to the Survivor Connections forum, to recognize that it is a specialized interest for many of our members, and encourage survivors of ritual abuse to now begin posting on the thread in its new location.