Madonna Savage-Phillips suspected there’d be a price to pay for telling her 12 siblings that until she was 7, their mother stood by while their father molested her.
She worried her siblings might not believe her and would reject her. She feared her parents wouldn’t acknowledge the abuse. But she never suspected the price meant learning she wasn’t the only victim.
Her story shattered her large family into two factions. One faction—brothers molested by their mother and sisters molested by their father—validated her experience and helped her to heal. The other faction ostracized her. The rift remains.
Madonna’s story is about overcoming fear, enduring loss, learning to heal and living in joy and in peace.
Her story is one of several that Jennasis Speaks shares in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
