All women deserve to be treated with respect and love. We deserve to be treated as people, not objects. We deserve to be able to enter into a relationship as an equal partner with our significant other.
There is a line in the movie A Little Princess which states that all girls are Princesses. While this statement is simplistic, it is basically true. All girls, all women, are worthy of the respect usually reserved for the royal.
We must beware of entering into a relationship that is too similar to the one in which we were abused. As survivors, we know what the warning signs are, we have analisied, or over analised, our past relationships and are ready to see the warning signs as they come, before it's too late.
I must say that, in spite of the progress I have made to date, I am still afraid of men, and still afraid of an intimate relationship with a man. I feel that right now, I would be rather hard pressed to enter into an intimate relationship with someone.
What about this boyfriend that I've mentioned then? He and I are currently 5000 miles apart, and it will be some time before that distance is shortened. I believe that by the time that intimacy is an issue, I will be at the point where it will be a possibility. And even then, he will have to be incredibly patient with me, as I believe he will be.