A couple of years back, actress Monique revealed that she was sexually molested by her brother as a child. Recently after her breath-taking role in the movie “Precious”, she went more into detail about her abuse. Monique stated that the only apology she had ever received from her brother was, “If you feel like I did something to you, I’m sorry..”
Yesterday, Monique’s family appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the molestation by her older brother Gerald Imes, and so that he could apologize to Monique (even though she wasn’t at the show). They also stated that they want to bring the family back together & would like for everything to be the way it used to be.
As I watched Monique’s family speak with Oprah, I began to understand & feel her pain. What stood out to me, was how her parents handled the problem, when Monique spoke out about being molested. They say Gerald was put out of the house, but I don’t feel enough action was taken. I understand that the Mother & Father felt torn because Monique & Gerald were both their children, but they should’ve helped Monique; not just ignored it. Not once did I hear them say that they sought help or therapy for Monique.
However, what they did was something a lot of other families do: They swept it under the rug. They wanted to FORGET about the Molestation & pretend that it never occurred… That seems to be the main reason that she doesn’t speak to them today.
One of Monique’s other brothers commented on the statement about her calling Gerald being a “Monster”, saying that Monique was lying because she & Gerald still carried on a ‘Brother-Sister’ relationship, even after the molestation… Even though she was able to still speak with Gerald and be around him, that doesn’t excuse the fact that she was still hurting inside. In most cases, Monique was probably doing it to keep her family happy, but no matter what, those thoughts were still in the back of her head.
What Monique’s family fails to understand is that, no matter how old the situation is, Monique will NEVER forget about being molested. Even if she does forgive, she won’t forget. Being molested won’t leave her memory. She probably doesn’t communicate with them, because she’s tired of feeling as if her emotions & pain don’t matter. Maybe she couldn’t continue faking, or fighting a losing battle, and just can’t take it anymore.
Monique’s family has gone so many years with trying to avoid this problem, that when Monique wound up speaking out publicly, it blew up in their face…Well, you know what the saying is: What is done in the dark will come to light.
