At 14, I self-harmed to erase my body. But my body was not the enemy | Maggy van Eijk

Faced with bullying and sexual harassment, I turned my anger on myself. New and shocking figures on self-harm show teenagers are still in trouble

At 14 I was angry with my body. It had betrayed me. I wanted desperately to be invisible, walking through the school corridors unnoticed, but instead puberty had blasted my body into an unfamiliar spotlight.

I shot upwards and outwards, sticking out everywhere. My body didn’t belong to me. A man stuck his hand up my skirt in a shopping centre. Another man flashed his penis to me with a Cheshire cat grin while I waited for a friend in our local park.

Related: Quarter of 14-year-old girls in UK have self-harmed, report finds

Continue reading...

from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2wvatd0