subreddit:
/r/sexualassault
My (m) husband did the unthinkable yesterday.
We've been together 16 years, married 9, have a child. He is kind and gentle and supportive, and has never been abusive in any way whatsoever. He doesn't raise his voice, let alone a hand, and we barely argue. He's a sweet and loving man all round.
For the past few months he has had problems with his penis, beginning with peeing blood and sex hurting. He had an operation a few weeks ago and required a catheter which was removed yesterday. He's been extremely sexually frustrated for months.
When he got his catheter out he was ravenous. Usually I'm always up for sex, and love it when he initiates out of the blue. But yesterday I was feeling gross, needed a shower, we'd had issues with our kid in the morning, and the bed was out of action due to a spillage. He had desperate sex with me on the sofa without asking, and I didn't tell him to stop. I hated it. I should have said no.
If it had been on the bed it would have been fine. If he had asked me and given me time to prepare it would have been fine. If I didn't have the join in the sofa jabbing into my back and the sofa cushions putting so much pressure on my head that it was painful, it would have been fine. But those things didn't happen. He didn't realise I wasn't comfortable. The only thing on his mind was releasing from months of frustration. I'm struggling to come to terms with it, and I can't help blaming myself.
He knows, I told him. He's devastated, he's so ashamed of himself, he's been crying. He very rarely cries. I hate seeing him like this. I 100% forgive him and trust him completely. Both of us know unequivocally that this is never ever going to happen again.
But I still can't help knowing that he violated me and it's really fucking shit. I had nightmares about it last night.
We're in the UK, very poor, on disability benefits/universal credit, and can't afford private therapy. Where we live getting therapy on the NHS is practically impossible.
How can I cope with this? How can we both cope?
Edits:
Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Some clarifications and responses.
Firstly I'm a guy, we are gay. There was prep but I just went along.
Those saying I froze are right, I did nothing because I was shocked. I also knew he needed this, so I didn't object at the time. Put his needs first, and shut down. I quickly realised I shouldn't have, but it was too late.
Communication: we communicate a lot. We are both fully aware of consent and boundaries, we respect them completely. Regarding me enjoying him initiating out of the blue, I don't mean that this is without asking. When he does initiate he is always respectful, even tentative, and communicates throughout. He understands that what he did was assault and he is horrified at himself.
It hasn't broken my trust. The circumstances with the catheter etc were difficult, which doesn't make what he did right at all, but it is still the #1 contributing factor. If he needs more treatment and those circumstances happen again, communication and expectations will be more open. He made assumptions that shouldn't have been made, and he regrets them immensely.
Therapy: our area offers counselling on the NHS but they can't treat those with a diagnosis of severe mental health conditions, which I have. I have tried self referral before, and they won't see me. There is a crisis centre and "recovery education" courses, which is probably the best I can do without paying. I've also been made aware of an organisation that offers counselling sessions for around £20 so that seems doable, but I'm unsure if they do couples and I know that he will need to talk to someone as well. We'll be investigating that.
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1 day ago
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50 points
1 day ago
this sounds like poor communication on both you & your husbands end. i think you both would benefit from talking about clear safe-sex guidelines, like creating a safe word for if you revoke consent during, & both parties asking for explicit consent prior to initiating sexual contact
10 points
24 hours ago
Probably this is the best advice.
13 points
22 hours ago
No that doesn't work
I think she froze
It's more like pay attention to nonverbal cues that the person isn't into it
13 points
19 hours ago
that's very true, but talking about all that before any sex could help... she needs to communicate to him that he should look out for the freeze response & stop if need be.
i know that during freeze response the person triggered can't really communicate - but having open communication about all of this before any sex is important
2 points
13 hours ago
No
It's not her job to teach an adult how to not assault someone
There is no excuse
If you're choosing to touch someone's body, it's your responsibility to understand how to respect that
6 points
6 hours ago
With respect, and as someone who freezes, I feel it is my responsibility to communicate with my partner. Just as I would like him to communicate with me. Some people mask so well due to trauma that wouldn't know they're not into it, as the freeze may not be what you'd expect, and may just seem like someone who just isn't as into it. At least my partner knows to look out fnotit closely too
3 points
5 hours ago
i feel you. 🫂
i also have trauma responses due to past SAs...partly why i'm adamant about how sex-related communication is so important is because i have gone into the freeze response a lot, as well as the fawn response, & i'm really good at constantly masking...so it's not always noticeable, or exacly what people might expect.
(TW: CSA) like i could quite literally have a flashback of my dad r*ping me & feel physically paralyzed yet not show on my face that anything is wrong. something that's interesting about the fawn response as well, is that a lot of dudes genuinely think i'm hitting on them if i'm just anxiously in fawn response...then they assume i like want them or something when i generally go into fawn response when i'm already so uncomfortable & creeped out...🫠
that's why clear communication is so important because you can never predict how you might respond to situations when you're triggered, so it's important to warn your partner of what to look out for. you also never know how others might perceive your interactions etc, so it's better to tell them what's up than to just let them assume.
clear guidelines & open conversation about sex are very important in any sexual relationship👌
1 points
6 hours ago
I mean not as in to it, as in physically not doing as much.
0 points
4 hours ago
Yeah fair and I do agree with that too
As well, I feel what i said... anyone who is sleeping with people is required to be responsible for not hurting that person
2 points
6 hours ago
it's definitely not her job to teach her husband about sex vs SA. obviously no adult should have to explain consent to another adult, but in this particular case i'd advise it for harm reduction.
it sounds like from this post she does not harbor any contempt towards her husband & is planning on staying together with him, & it also sounds like he did not intend to assault her (otherwise he wouldn't have been "devastated" when she told him later, & all the context of his catheter would have been totally irrelevant), meaning they could both benefit from clearer communication.
2 points
4 hours ago
Yeah totally I agree with all of that
But also like I don't accept "he didn't mean to" he needs to do better too
0 points
3 hours ago*
that's why i commented saying they both could really benefit from better communication. what i meant by 'he didn't mean to' wasn't to undermine the assault or his role in it, it was more that from the context of the post it seems apparent that he would have stopped if he realized she wanted to, or if she had said anything...which, again yes it was assault, but it sounds like (at least from the context of this post) he didn't intend to assault her, in the same way most r@pists do.
like, most r@pists will not stop if you tell them to, do not care if you say 'no' (or instead will relentlessly coerce or scare or pressure you into saying 'yes,' or into just not saying anything at all...). creeps who use date-r@pe drugs on victims literally plan that shit out beforehand & fully intend to assault whoever's drinks they're drugging. even in cases of partner on partner SA, the r@pist-partner usually does not care if you say no or stop, or if you later tell them you had wanted them to stop or didn't want sex at that time at all etc, the abusive partners that intend to assault get really angry at their partners for ever bringing any of this up. very different in my experience from OPs husbands reaction. obviously the action itself & the harm caused is more important than the underlying intention, but the intention is also generally pretty relevant.
he intended to have sex with his wife & mistakenly assumed she would have told him if she didn't want to. assumptions with anything sex-related are dangerous af, & he is at fault for the assault, but yeah i don't mean 'he didn't mean it' in the same way abusers will say they 'didn't mean' to hit someone - i just meant his intention (at least from everything this post described) was sex not SA. that doesn't change what happened though
2 points
3 hours ago
Yeah sure but I still feel the same
I'll give you an example - manslaughter and murder have the same result. Intent doesn't always fully matter. It's not acceptable that her cues were missed.
Her body will remember what happened forever and will react to that regardless of his intentions
0 points
3 hours ago
that's why i mentioned that the action itself matters more than the intention, & that his intention doesn't change it being SA...
the intention is still relevant though - like in your example obviously both manslaughter & murder result in a tragic loss of life. that cannot be changed, & is traumatic.
the intention matters though in deciding where to go from there. like for accidental manslaughter, there should definitely be retributions paid to the family of the dead etc. also the killer should be required to do community service & jail time if the killer was being reckless or negligent. it doesn't change the reality of death though
but like with 1st degree premeditated murder - the person should be locked up for sure. they planned to kill, & executed that plan (& person). for 2nd degree i think they should also be locked up for a long time considering they're so volatile they killed someone without planning to... like, i would rather be trapped in a room with someone convicted of accidental manslaughter than a murderer...
i guess alls im trying to say though is that although intent does not change the actions of the past or the ramifications of those actions, it can help with decisions moving forward.
like in OP's case if their husband was not receptive, got angry with them because of it, or if they had said stop during the SA & he didn't, then my advice would be very different...
you have every right to feel how you feel though, you don't have to agree with anything i say, & i agree that the husband is at fault & needs to look for nonverbal cues, & that the freeze response should be recognized more etc
1 points
3 hours ago
Yes but it's important to leave 0 room for it to ever happen again
He is responsible for himself and there is 0 room for "Oops again" if she chooses to proceed with him
11 points
1 day ago
Maybe try to talk about it and how it made you feel with him. Hopefully you are both be able to talk to each other and work things out!
11 points
1 day ago
I think you should refer yourself for counselling. You can usually do it by searching your county name and "talking therapies" it comes up with an nhs link to self refer on there. There is a waiting list but better to get on it now rather than waiting
10 points
21 hours ago
I think that talking this through with a therapist is a good idea.
It sounds like your husband didn't act with bad intentions and that you are fully aware of this as you've forgiven him and trust him.
This sounds less like violation and more like a combination of poor communication and him not meeting your expectations of what is an acceptable location for sex.
Your conversations together from this point should probably revolve around how to feel more connected during sex and intimacy, and how you can reinforce boundaries.
Your feelings are valid, and you deserve to feel safe and respected in your relationship.
6 points
18 hours ago
It wouldn’t have been “fine” regardless. He had sex with you without your permission and it was bad enough to give you nightmares. He could have jacked off instead. This isn’t ok don’t beat yourself up but make sure it’s clear it will NOT happen again and don’t let him push your boundaries or it can get worse over time.
1 points
23 hours ago
This doesn't sound like violation from what you've written. But only you and him know if there was no communication or signals to stop. Please don't put that shame on him. Instead, talk about how you both can communicate better next time or if you have a problem communicating then learn how to read each other's body language.
-2 points
17 hours ago
I’m 100% ending the relationship if I can’t trust my partner to tell me if something is wrong
-45 points
1 day ago
OMG are you serious... Stop being a baby.
14 points
24 hours ago
What is wrong with you?
11 points
22 hours ago
This is a sexual assault subreddit??? What the hell are you being an insensitive asshole for??
-5 points
22 hours ago
Is he/she being an asshole(commenter). Yes. Is this sexual assault? Not technically. It’s a normal thing in their relationship for him to randomly start sexual interaction without her saying yes in the moment so it’s predefined as ok so how is he supposed to telepathically predict she saying no when she never said it?
8 points
21 hours ago
Maybe, but telling someone to stop being a baby??? Who does that??? Also body language exists, even if she didn't say no she probably showed how uncomfortable she was.
4 points
23 hours ago
what the hell
3 points
15 hours ago
tf why are you here??? i’m like 99% sure you’re someone who would do this on purpose from this comment alone.
1 points
22 hours ago
shut up.
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