"Child Molestation." What comes to your mind when you hear these words? Shock? Disgust? Sadness...? But if you're a victim, a whole host of other words come to mind. Shame. Pain. Guilt. Hatred... And victims there are many. According to a report by UNICEF, almost 53% of children in India face sexual abuse of some kind at least once in their lives. That means almost 1 in 2 Indians have been molested or worse, raped as children. Wrap your mind around that. The most disgusting thing about child sex abuse is that in most cases, the perpetrator is known to the victim. And the most horrifying fact about it is that most perpetrators have no set gender, age or criminal history. Anyone could be a monster. We wanted to show just how prevalent this heinous crime is in our country. So, we reached out to friends and acquaintances across India and asked them to anonymously share their own stories. And share they did. We received dozens of horrifying accounts of child sexual abuse from many scarred adults. We are sharing some of them with you. Their stories will leave you in a cold sweat.

I was five-years-old and had gone to my bua’s (aunt) place. They had a permanent servant with whom I would often play with as a kid. He was pretty old. One day, he asked me if I wanted to go to a nearby stable. Being an over-excited kid and a lover of animals, I jumped at the opportunity and instantly said yes. When we reached the stable, he took me inside and felt me up. As a young kid, I had no idea what was happening. I couldn’t even cry.

Now that I think of the incident, it disgusts me to the core. He was so old and I was probably his granddaughter’s age. The incident left a permanent fear in my mind and ever since, I have been afraid going to my aunt’s place. I even started staying away from my aunt’s sons fearing that they would do the same to me.

These days brushing keeps happening. We women have got used to it. But this one incident was more than just brushing. I was around 17 and had just come back from school. I was in Class 11.

I had almost reached home when a stranger came up to me and said something. Sensing that his intentions were bad, I ignored him and quickened my footsteps. He followed me and said, “Chut degi.” (Will you fuck me?) Terrified, I ran upstairs to my place. He followed and quickly grabbed me from my back. I shouted at the top of my voice, after which he ran. I thought of teaching him a lesson and ran after him, but he had gone. I was left in pieces.