Vanessa

          “After my assault, I stayed in bed for three whole days. I cried a lot, and I’ve never been a crier. Even once I got out of bed, I’d see him around and it would trigger a panic attack. The event would play over and over in my mind all day, and didn’t stop for months. I went to therapy, but it didn’t help. I was looking for anything to take the feeling away. That’s when I tried the last thing I could think of, self harm. I cut my wrist, and that is the faint scar you can see in the picture.

          I got this tattoo to cover it up because I am stronger than that. I got it a few months after the assault, because I realized that I needed to start doing things for myself. I am the one that controls my life. No one can change the past, so the only thing left to do was to be stronger because of it. The moon is the light that you see prevailing through the dark night sky, and this tattoo is a symbol of me prevailing through my darkness.” –Vanessa, 18