Kintsugi
Sponsor
I think you should do whatever you feel you need or want to do as a victim.
I am curious to know what it is you would hope to be the best possible outcome if you did report him and what it would give your life.
I struggled for years over whether or not to send my brother to jail. I never looked into the specifics of what had to happen. I just knew I had a confession and I held it like a loaded gun, unsure of what to do with it.
In the end I decided that it was not worth it to my life to live with putting someone in jail for a few years, that being the ultimate outcome I could imagine. It is complicated, of course, by the fact that it is a family member I would be reporting, and everyone would know I was the one who put him in a temporary hell, whether the son of a bitch deserved it or not.
Worst case scenario, I testified against my brother and nothing would happen but perhaps court-ordered therapy, and the sheer invalidation could crush me.
I never wanted to report my ex boyfriend for pretty much the same reasons you are hesitating. But then, I was not sure whether he would ever re-offend again, and I wasn't worried about it back then. It never crossed my mind. If I could go back, would I report? Maybe, if I thought he would do the same thing to someone else.
It's a very tough decision and one that only you can make, as many here have said. I too support whatever decision you make. I think you're very brave to admit what happened between you and him and to put the blame where it belongs--on him.
I am curious to know what it is you would hope to be the best possible outcome if you did report him and what it would give your life.
I struggled for years over whether or not to send my brother to jail. I never looked into the specifics of what had to happen. I just knew I had a confession and I held it like a loaded gun, unsure of what to do with it.
In the end I decided that it was not worth it to my life to live with putting someone in jail for a few years, that being the ultimate outcome I could imagine. It is complicated, of course, by the fact that it is a family member I would be reporting, and everyone would know I was the one who put him in a temporary hell, whether the son of a bitch deserved it or not.
Worst case scenario, I testified against my brother and nothing would happen but perhaps court-ordered therapy, and the sheer invalidation could crush me.
I never wanted to report my ex boyfriend for pretty much the same reasons you are hesitating. But then, I was not sure whether he would ever re-offend again, and I wasn't worried about it back then. It never crossed my mind. If I could go back, would I report? Maybe, if I thought he would do the same thing to someone else.
It's a very tough decision and one that only you can make, as many here have said. I too support whatever decision you make. I think you're very brave to admit what happened between you and him and to put the blame where it belongs--on him.