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Sexual Assault Triggered After The Fact... Does This Make Sense At All?

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Whoa--------I personally like being touched sexually in the middle of the night. I mean it would be the ultimate buzz kill if every sexual act needed a fully awake/fully cognizant/not under the influence of anything verbal declaration that I want that behavior. I don't see this as sexual assault or even anything close.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies.

No, I do not think this was assault. I don't feel attacked by...

Have you told him that you do not want to be touched in the middle of the night?

If not, you're expecting him to be a mind reader.

I am a CSA survivor and have no problems being touched in the middle of the night.

IMHO it's unwise to expect others to know how to behave "just because you're a sexual abuse survivor". This paints us all with the same brush. Many of us go in one direction while many go the other.
 
@Justmehere I believe that under RAINN definition..... that EVERY man and woman could be charged with assault that touched their husband or wife in the middle of the night for a roll in the hay. That to me is just ludicrist. Again, just my opinion.

Yes, I do believe that under some conditions it would be rape or assault. But definitely not what the OP was discussing.
 
I only say that because I have had some serious issues with intamicy for the past 6 months or so. Where there is a lot of need for him to ground me out check in with me during sex. And on many occasions, I end up in tears after.

You are 100% correct that I cannot expect him to read my mind. I am in no way angry him, as I said, I know he was not intending any harm whatsoever.
 
Delay is basically my middle name. Or it should be. It makes it very hard to prepare oneself and communicate the right boundaries I find. In my experience the only way forward is doing what you are doing now, analysing what may be a problem and being proactive about it after. That doesn't he;p you right now I know. :( And these things change and catch us unawares. I think youve done a great job looking at this though and there are a lot of things you can do that should help you in the future. Part of it for me is having clearly in my mind that certain things probably won't be ok after.
 
IMHO the op stated that the past 6 months she's struggled with their intimacy, having him check in with her, do grounding and even with all this she ends up in tears.

So, I think with him knowing all this he should have woken her up......it's not about reading her mind. Its about past recent history that should've clued him in.
 
I only say that because I have had some serious issues with intamicy for the past 6 months or so. Wher...
No but if he knows what you are dealing with it is his responsibility to make sure he's not triggering you. You can't stop the triggers with that kind of thing but he can. I've pushed and pushed this book.... Screenshot_2016-09-22-16-52-52.webp
 
@mrsmegan With this new information.... I will add to my original post by saying this... Your husband was thinking with his "little head" and not his big head. Knowing that touching you/having sex triggers you, he was acting insensitive. I still think it's best to have a conversation with him and discuss it further.

It's always best to include as much information in your first posting so that all of us can give advice/opinions based on all of the information, not just parts of it. Unless you purposely are trying to be vague for a reason and that's ok too.
 
It seems like you are torn between all your feelings. Because he clearly knows sex triggers, but in a guy's mind if he cares about you, everything else doesn't matter, it's guy logic. In a female mind,everything matters, it's us. So you have to communicate that you know he cares about you but in the future maybe waking you up would be good for now until you have healed some more in the ptsd department. Ok, great responses here, it's good that you seem to be in a loving relationship. More power to you.
 
Hi, I understand it can be confusing for you... It would be good to talk to your husband about the feelings you are experiencing now. If you feel something was upseting for you, it´s always good to talk about it, so the other person won´t repeat such behavior.

As for getting sexual with your partner in the night, it can be tricky. The border between being asleep and awake is sometimes blur. My husband often comes from work very late and I am already sleeping. He talks to me and hugs me and kisses my cheek and hair while I am fully or half asleep, and that´s ok to me. Sometimes I remember in the morning, sometimes I don´t. But this level of contact is pleasant to me while asleep. I personaly would not like him to touch me in certain areas of my body. He knows about it and respects that.

I wake up earlier in the morning so then it´s him who is half asleep. Once I thought he was already awake a started kissing him and touching him - but he somehow fell asleep again, although he even talked to me just a moment ago. I felt very awkward afterward, because I honestly thought he was awake. We talked about it. He didn´t mind it at all - he found it very pleasant to wake up like that, and he wouldn´t mind me doing it again. But I didn´t like that feeling, so we don´t do that.

If both partners enjoy something and they have agreed on certain level of intimacy while waking the other person up, there is nothing wrong with that. But if either party doesn´t feel comfortable with that, then you simply should not be engaging in such behaviour.

We both have PTSD and sex is an issue for us, so I can relate a lot... We talk about our triggers and respect the boundaries the other person needs to feel safe. Communication is the key to keeping things healthy between us. We don´t want to hurt each other while not being aware about that.

Talk to your husband. I hope he will understand and give you all the support you need. Sending hugs!
 
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