Please Don't Jump!

The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) We are honored to hear the soul-wrenching triumphant story of Deloris E. Jordan. She is the sister of legendary NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

In her words, " Ending eight years after it first began and five years after losing my virginity to my father, it scares me to think how much longer the abuse would have went on had I not spit out the dreadful truth to my mother during one of our many heated disagreements. Disagreements that were sometimes anything but pleasant and often featured no indication of love between the two of us.

So as she ranted and raved about how no slutty daughter of hers better get pregnant and bring any bastard children into her house. I finally heard myself saying: “If I am so much of a slut, why don’t you keep your husband out of my bed?”

When I finally found the courage to let my father’s deeds tumble from my lips, I did not know what to expect, but I never in a million years would have guessed that my mother would turn on me. Her words of betrayals did far more damage to me than my father’s deeds. They spoke volumes to the fact that she really did not care about me, which my father obviously knew. It is because she was so expressive with her dislike for me that probably made my father know he could get away with violating me.

My father confessed his actions on the same day that I disclosed them to my mother. And on that frightful day of admission, I watched my mother, looking for a sign, any sign that she cared about me.

The memory of my father whispering in my ear during the wee hours of the night about the beauty of my body has played over and over in my head for many years. And as if that has not been incapacitating enough by itself, having to comprehend the fact that more often than not, he had just gotten out of the bed he shared with my mother to find his way to my bedroom has just added to the realization of the painful situation. " Book excerpt: In My Family's Shadow.

She has a new book entitled You are Stronger than Your Situation: Please Don't Jump available at www.delorisejordan.com

Statistics from RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization:

• Every 73 seconds another American is sexually assaulted.
• Every 9 minutes, that victim is a child. Meanwhile, only 5 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison.
• 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted).4
• About 3% of American men—or 1 in 33—have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.4
• From 2009-2013, Child Protective Services agencies substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate that, 63,000 children a year were victims of sexual abuse.5
• A majority of child victims are 12-17. Of victims under the age of 18: 34% of victims of sexual assault and rape are under age 12, and 66% of victims of sexual assault and rape are age 12-17.6

The Majority of Sexual Assaults Occur At or Near the Victim's Home

What was the survivor doing when the crime occurred?7

• 48% were sleeping or performing another activity at home
• 29% were traveling to and from work or school or traveling to shop or run errands
• 12% were working
• 7% were attending school
• 5% were doing an unknown or other activity

To reach the host Kristie Kennedy visit www.queenfidence.com