#survivor-advocacy

#survivor-advocacy

Garrard Conley was enrolled in the now defunct Love in Action conversion therapy program in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 19. He was sent there by his parents after a classmate disclosed his sexual orientation to them following an assault. Conley grew up in a deeply religious family in rural Arkansas. He says he had to attend the program or face rejection from his family, and he ultimately agreed to enter the program.

I'm always looking over my shoulder. I'm never going to let my guard down, Bekhal Mahmod said.

When I was a child, I was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. I could not come forward before. I wasn't ready. Awareness and courage take time. Now I am.

About 260 sexual abuse lawsuits were paused when the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa filed for bankruptcy in 2023. That has been a frustration for survivors who want the actions of their abusers, and the failings of the powerful institution that obscured the crimes, dragged into the daylight. Now, it looks like a few of those survivors may have their days in court. RELATED: Diocese of Oakland seeks to pull plug on bankruptcy, send sex abuse cases back to court

The former Mohawk Institute the longest-running residential school in Canada is now named the Woodland Cultural Centre and is preparing to open to the public for the first time as a museum on Sept. 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. WATCH | Canada's longest-running residential school to reopen as a museum: Canada's longest running residential school, known as the Mohawk Institute, has reopened as a museum at Ontario's Woodland Cultural Centre

Dozens of women have come forward with allegations of abuse by the late Harrods owner going as far back as 1977, with numbers steadily increasing since the broadcast last year of the BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods.

Many survivors who speak out about abuse they experienced end up scapegoated and shamed for their honesty.

DID is a creative, protective response to chronic, severe trauma, often beginning in early childhood. It's not a character flaw. It's not rare.