My girlfriend (24 f) doesn't believe that I (22m) was taken advantage of.

21,196 points1,505 commentssubmitted by ThrowRA_625 to r/relationship_advice2

UPDATE- https://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/comments/i3izig/update_my_girlfriend_24_f_doesnt_believe_that_i/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

My girlfriend and I were hanging out. I was playing a game and she was scrolling on her phone. We often just like to enjoy each other's company. I guess she was reading something because she just stated how it's so sad that every woman knows someone or has been someone who was sexually harassed and/or assaulted. I agreed and told her that it's horrible how many women do not feel safe in situations where they should. She then said that men are so lucky they don't deal with it. I didn't know if she was being serious at first but she kept ranting. I told her that what men go through in life definitely doesn't compare to what women go through but sexual assault is something that happens to men too. She then responded with "all men think about is sex".

I took that as an opportunity to open up to her and tell her about how I was taken advantage of from the ages of 7-18 by a woman who I was supposed to trust. As a kid she used to touch me or make me touch her and call it "our little secret". As I got older she got more "aggressive" with the sexual acts. It only stopped because she moved away. She kinda looked at me with a "yeah right" face and said that all boys dream of being with an older woman. She only agreed that it was messed up that I was so young when it started. She then said that I seemed to be ok so it's not that bad. Women who go through it have so much mental and emotional damage and that women aren't as scary as men. I honestly didn't even know what to say.

I'm not ok I guess I'm just good at hiding it.I use smoking as a coping mechanism and it's been an issue in our relationship. How do I navigate our relationship going forward? I'm not sure where this was coming from. Maybe she went through something too? Idk...