"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 10-years-old and was busy playing near my house when a courier guy asked me for a nearby address. I told him the way, but he asked me to come and show it to him. As I went into a narrow corridor, he came closer and slid his hand in my panties. I just ran to save my life. I have never trusted strangers since.

When I joined college, my parents got me admitted to a Hostel. I didn’t have many other guys my age there. Most of the people there were my seniors. I had mentally prepared myself for ragging. I knew it would happen. And it did. It was strange, harrowing and humiliating. I was asked to strip and perform silly acts dozens of times. But there is one incident I just cannot forget. At the end of my “initiation,” they asked me and another junior to strip. I was then asked to sit, facing his genitals and not move or turn my head away. I couldn’t understand how this was ragging. I was disgusted, but I got through it. A year later, when my juniors came, my seniors asked me to join in the “fun.” I asked those perverts to fuck off.