How One Sexual Assault Survivor Is Helping Others Take Back Their Bodies

Olivia was a preteen when her mother died of ovarian cancer. One year later, she was raped.  When Olivia reached her 20s, her doctor began encouraging her to have regular cervical smear tests. But Olivia found pap smears invasive and traumatizing -- they reminded her of being raped.  "I couldn’t have [the test]," Olivia, now in her 30s, told The Huffington Post under the condition that her real name would not be used due to privacy concerns. "It’s not because I didn’t try. I tried really hard for a whole decade to have one and I gave up." Olivia attended seven different clinics in three UK cities in an attempt to get a pap smear done, but the experiences were too traumatizing.  "I felt like a failure and I blamed myself," she said. "I thought if I hadn’t let myself be raped, I would be normal, and I would be able to do it." Things changed when Olivia heard about a new London clinic run by an organization called My Body Back. My Body Back offers support and resources to survivors of sexual and domestic violence, helping them take back control of their bodies. And, as of this month, they run a special weekly clinic where sexual assault survivors can get cervical screenings.   On a recent Thursday, Olivia attended the clinic at London's St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where a young woman named Pavan Amara helped her successfully undergo a cervical smear test for the first time.  "I was afraid of being invaded or that it woul...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news