I’ve been abused and bullied for years even as a child/young teenager, and my friend told me it was my fault and that if I wasn’t such a subhuman waste of space, I wouldn’t be abused and then believed all the lies her friends made about me. She then “forgave” me (IDK what I did wrong, I may have, though) but what she said still hurts. Is it a person’s fault for being abused?
She also blamed me for talking to the guy when I was 12 and a young adult man tried to date me (20M)
I remember when I was around that age, and a couple of my friends had “boyfriends” who were much older than them. In particular, I remember how me and all my other friends thought it was so cool to be dating someone so much older. Remembering that I held this view makes me feel sick, but we were young and didn’t know better. And that’s what predatory adults who try to “date” children know and rely on.
Some people do such ridiculous mental gymnastics to blame children for the predatory acts of adults, and it is bullshit. You are not to blame for the appalling actions of other people.