A Powerful Spoken-Word Declaration by Julie Jewels Smoot | Author Honey Badger
 
Genre: Dark Cinematic Spoken Word | Industrial Protest Poetry | Survivor Advocacy
 
Content Notice: This spoken-word piece addresses childhood sexual abuse, rape, trauma, pornography exposure, and the lasting impact of sexual violence. Listener discretion is advised.
You Stole My Childhood, Not My Voice is a deeply personal, unapologetic spoken-word composition about childhood sexual violence, the lasting impact of rape, and the power of reclaiming one's voice.
At eleven years old, I was exposed to pornography and then raped. I was a child who deserved safety, protection, innocence, and the freedom to grow without sexual violence becoming part of my story.
 
That childhood was forever changed.
 
This composition confronts the anger, grief, memories, and emotional consequences that can follow a survivor long after the violence has ended. It speaks about what happens when the world continues to expose survivors to unwanted sexual imagery, including the pornography I repeatedly encounter on X.
 
I am tired of having my boundaries disregarded. I am tired of seeing sexual content I never asked to view. And I am tired of a culture that too often minimizes the experiences of survivors while expecting us to remain quiet about what triggers painful memories.
 
Through commanding spoken-word delivery, dark cinematic atmosphere, heavy percussion, and uncompromising emotion, this piece refuses silence.
 
It is a declaration against childhood sexual abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.
It is a demand for consent, accountability, dignity, and the protection of children.
 
Most importantly, it is my testimony.
 
I am not telling this story to invite pity.
I am telling it because what happened to me matters.
Because the eleven-year-old girl I once was deserved better.
 
Because rape can affect a survivor's sense of safety, trust, bodily autonomy, and relationship with the world for years afterward.