Should I Go To A Lawyer?

17-year-old female (almost 18). I have been thinking about seeing an immigration lawyer because I was a victim of sexual assault by two members of my father's family (his cousins) and two of my father's friends. Hello, I would like to know if there is any hope of being able to file a report against my abusers.

Let’s start with the fact that my first sexual assault was when I was 6–8 years old. The first person was a friend and worker of my father; let’s call him P. He is the son of one of my father’s best friends. P was about 19–22 when he started touching me with other intentions (I’m not sure if I can explain them freely here). He did this for several years, but I never had the courage to tell my parents; I was afraid of what would happen if I did. He did it for many years, perhaps four. Then there is the second one, A, P’s younger brother. Interactions with him were minimal, maybe once or twice; what little I remember is that once he forced me to touch him, the rest I don’t recall. These interactions were in my native country.

Location: Virginia, Richmond (2019 - 2022)
We came to the USA with my father when I was 11. My father and I went to live with his cousins (men over 30). There were three of them in total (brothers) whom I called "uncles." They lived there with their families. (Let's call them Uncle 1, Uncle 2, and Uncle 3).

• Uncle 1 (the homeowner) lived with his wife and two children.
• Uncle 2 lived there with his wife and newborn daughter (she's almost 7 y/o).
• Uncle 3 lived alone at the time.

The house had five bedrooms and three bathrooms, so my father and I ended up sleeping in Uncle 3's room. (I forgot to add, at that time a nephew of Uncle 1's wife lived there, which is why we slept with Uncle 3). My father and I entered the U.S. in 2019.

Uncle 2 was the one harassing me, doing inappropriate things; it didn't escalate beyond him touching me with double intentions. This happened for two years. I chose not to say anything because, first, I didn't want my father to do something that would get him into trouble; second, he had a daughter who was months old and I didn't want to leave my cousin without a father; and third, they probably wouldn't believe me. I can say with certainty that those cousins (mostly Uncle 1) wanted us out of their house and didn't like us, so they wouldn't believe such an accusation.

Over time, we had more problems with Uncle 1 and went to live with another cousin of my father’s. She lives with her husband, "J," and their two children. At first, I went to live with this aunt (around 2020) because I was having problems with my father. The problems were that I was cutting myself, and Uncle 1's wife didn't like that. My father was worried I would keep hurting myself, so during summer break (2019 or 2020), he sent me to live with my aunt. At first, everything was nice, but over time, things took a different turn.

Once while I was in the living room, my aunt went to the patio to play with her children. I (12 years old) was lying on the sofa watching TV when J arrived from work. He greeted me, and I greeted him back. He sat on the sofa and started caressing my legs. You might think there’s nothing wrong with that, but since I had already gone through the same thing many times, I knew immediately he was doing it with double intentions. I had to endure it and act like nothing was happening. That’s when my hell began.

With silly excuses, he would go into the room where I slept to see if I was "asleep" and would touch my legs. Just feeling him gave me such terror that I preferred to pretend to be asleep. That happened many times. Sometimes he would come and swat my buttocks in front of my aunt, but she would just laugh; I don’t blame her because in our family that was "normal," but as I said, he did it with a perverse sense. Later, my dad moved in with us and I slept in the same room as him. The touching stopped, but J always found a way to continue; if we went out (without my dad), he always found an opportunity to be alone to make subtle insinuations.

In 2022, my mother came to the USA and lived with us. My mother told me that J was making insinuations to her, too. My parents separated that same year and my mother wanted to move, so I took that as an opportunity to get away from that environment. Now I live happily with my mother, four years free from those abusers.

After so many years, I wanted to know if there is anything I can do? The problem is that I have no proof other than stories I posted on IG in 2020 talking about it and the scars from my cutting. Could someone help me see if there is a chance I can be helped?