Quote Originally Posted by leo9
Let us not blur the difference between Dominants and abusers, likewise between submissives and victim types.

I certainly agree that a Dom can usually sense when someone is sub even if sie is not flagging in any obvious way. (I know I can, I've sometimes surprised myself with the people for whom my detector has buzzed, and later found I was right.) And it does appear that abusive characters have an instinct for potential victims.

But most of the submissives I have known have not been victim types, on the contrary: outside the D/s relationship they are usually strong minded, even aggressive people whom any would-be abuser would walk wide around. And speaking just for myself, I am equally quick to avoid victim types.
I did not mean to suggest that dominants are by nature abusers and, I certainly did not mean to suggest that all submissive persons are victims. That being said, if you are a sub and you were abused, which is kind of what the original question is about, the abuse probably did not cause the submissiveness. I have nothing but ancedotal evidence to support this theory of course but, it has proven itself to be true in spades, at least in my experience.

Were these strong minded submissives that you know abused early on?