Friendly reminder that grooming can happen to anyone.
Yes, even adults.
An adult can be groomed by a minor. a minor can be groomed by an adult. someone can be groomed by a partner, a friend, a stranger, someone older, someone younger, someone they trusted, someone they thought was safe.
Grooming isn’t defined by the age of the victim.
It is defined by the manipulation.
the conditioning.
the boundary-pushing.
the normalization.
the exploitation of vulnerability.
the gradual convincing of someone that this is what they want.
and sometimes the scariest part is that the person being groomed doesn’t even realize it’s happening.
they may genuinely believe they wanted it.
they may genuinely believe they consented.
they may defend the person doing it.
they may blame themselves afterward.
that doesn’t make the grooming any less real.
you don’t have to be a child.
you don’t have to be naïve.
you don’t have to fight back.
you don’t have to recognize it while it’s happening.
being manipulated into believing you wanted something does not retroactively make the manipulation disappear.
grooming can happen to anyone.
and if it happened to you, it was not your fault.
