In the latest issue of Essence magazine, Queen Latifah speaks candidly about her experience with sexual abuse as a child.
For a short period of time when she was a child, Latifah was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a teenager charged with her care. "He violated me," she says of the abuser. "I never told anybody; I just buried it as deeply as I could and kept people at an arm's distance. I never really let a person get too close to me. I could have been married years ago, but I had a commitment issue." Eventually, she opened up to her parents, who separated when she was young....She points out that one in four girls is sexually abused in some way. "That's 25 percent of all girls. This is a real problem," she says. Not unlike many victims of abuse, she wondered if she had played a role in what happened. Her talks with a therapist helped her find the unequivocal answer. "He said, 'Imagine yourself as an adult and think about what a child can do to you. Can they beat you? Can they defeat you? No. Now, imagine yourself as that child.' That really helped put things in perspective. I was a kid, and I had no power or control over the situation."
I have been a fan of Queen Latifah for...well, forever. And I think it's wonderful that she's talking about her experience in a way that recognizes just how common sexual abuse is. The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that 15-33% of females and 13-16% of males were sexually abused as children.
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I am glad she broke the silence out about her abuse, but it is so perplexing to imagine someone like Queen Latifah would have had a difficult time in admitting abuse in the past simply because she is such a powerful roll model for girls and women. It just goes to show what a hidden crime sexual abuse is. It is so shameful to even the most strong among us. This take serious guts. Latifah is a hero!
Lalia Ali is arguably a good role model for girls, and yet, she had a lot of trouble as well. Only she told her mother, and was pretty much ignored. But she too, wondered if she played some sort of role in being attacked.
I am also a huge fan of Queen Latifah. I think it's good that an A-list celebrity is out there telling people "this is what happens. Now it's time to fix it." Maybe it'll start lighting a fire under people's asses and wake them up to this awful situation.
You go Queen Latifah
Once again, Queen Latifah, YOU ARE MY HERO.
All hail the Queen.