Tamar Braxton recently revealed that she is part of a very troubling statistic: On Thursday, the singer, reality star and mother to 5-year-old Logan Herbert opened up to talk show host Wendy Williams about her own history of sexual abuse, which she’d previously been “too afraid” to speak about publicly.
As reported by People:
“I’ve been battling myself about whether or not I want to say what happened or not … I’m Tamar and I’m real, right?” she said. “A lot of things happened in my childhood that I was too afraid to talk about. Too ashamed to talk about. But the truth of the matter is I have been molested by both sides of my family.”
It is estimated that 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused before the age of 18, and that 60 percent of black girls will experience sexual assault by that age. Braxton did not name the alleged predators within her family or state a specific timeframe, but later posted on Instagram, further detailing the abuse explaining her decision to come forward. She ended with a message of encouragement to fellow survivors, including a clip from her latest single, “Prettiest Girl”:
I have been a victim of abuse not once, twice, ten, but multiple times by multiple ‘family members’ I’ve never told ANYONE other than Two people in my life and they both have held this close to them
I never EVER again want anyone to feel so little and so small or even ashamed about something they had no control over. I wanted to create a space where you can tell your OWN story with out anyone commenting or making you feel ashamed EVER again!! Go to and tell your story and empower yourself starting today! I wanted you to know that no matter how many scars you have… you are the PRETTIEST.
DISCUSSION
Another reminder that once again, you never know what true pain people hide beneath their smiles and also, too many of us were taken advantage of from our early years and had no idea how that pain, anguish, and sadness would fester within us for years to come.
This resonates with me and I hope now that she was allowed to make her own choice of when to claim her pain, it has made a significant difference.