Abused Women Speak Out

Vernetta says that when she was just 13 years old, after years of sexual abuse, her own father impregnated her. She says her parents then dropped her off at the hospital alone, where she gave birth to a daughter, Melissia. Vernetta kept the secret of Melissia's father for years.

"He was abusing all of us," Vernetta says. "There were five kids: one boy and four girls, and all of us got abused. By eighth grade graduation, I was pregnant, though I did not know it. So he sent me to the doctor when my mom went to work. When we found out [I was pregnant], he concocted a story in which I would lie and say I had [sex] with a boy. And I told her that until he left." Vernetta's father left the family several years ago.