ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the narratives of four men and women who have recently broken their silence about their childhood sexual experiences. It describes their controversial and socially unacceptable belief that they were not badly affected by these experiences. The chapter also explains their contradictory feelings of shame and self-blame. It illustrates how they coped by deciding not to think about these events. The chapter outlines how they are beginning to see their experiences in a new light as having had an impact on their intimate relationships. It also describes some of their concerns about the impact that their childhood experiences may have had on their sexual behaviour as adults. The chapter focuses on the lives of four people who told of a silence recently broken. It unpacks the complicated reasons why these people came forward to tell their stories at that particular point in their lives.
