I'm 53 yet I can still invoke the feelings of shame, horror and humiliation of being labeled the town slut when I was 13.

I'm 53 yet I can still invoke the feelings of shame, horror and humiliation of being labeled the town slut when I was 13. It is a label that once bestowed can never be erased. Girls target other girls as readily as boys spread rumors. For five years I lived with that label and the teasing that accompanied it. Just writing about it elicits a very familiar sick feeling. Yet, despite the trauma, I endured. I grew into a strong and confident woman with no tolerance for bullying or abuse.