When Survivors See Through Lies, We Refuse to Pretend

In her career, Tonya GJ Prince has had the honor of encountering thousands of bold and courageous Survivors. With discretion, she shares one of those stories here.

She was just a child when the abuse began—hidden behind closed doors, dismissed by those who should have protected her, and ignored by a world that found it easier to believe in appearances. By the time she was a teenager, she had learned the brutal truth: sometimes, the people who demand your trust are the very ones who will betray it the worst.

When she spoke up, her family turned on her. They insisted she was “making things up.” And when she refused to play along with their comfortable illusions, she was cast out—left to navigate the world alone, vulnerable, and without a place to call home.

This episode is for every Survivor who has been pressured to keep secrets, to pretend, to play nice in the name of family or community peace. We refuse. We will not pretend that people are who they claim to be. We trust our own eyes, our own experiences, and our own truth.

We will not go along to get along.