I didnt want to talk to anyone about this. How I wondered am I suppose to tell this stranger my pain when I am too ashamed to even talk in detail with my parents about it. She is dedicated to taking the stigma and shame away from sexual abuse and giving survivors the courage to speak up as she has. The first episode began on a warm May night in 1991. So far, her story has inspired many kids to speak up about abuse, and that has led to more predators put behind bars. Oh and of course my cousin's voice echoing through my head "No one will believe you, you have no proof, you will destroy this family, this is our secret!" One thing my abusers kept telling me was that I had no proof that they were hurting me, so why would anyone believe me? Forgiving him did not mean what he did was right, she stressed. EN. Innocence lost. God has healed me, made me whole again, and has shown me the ability to forgive, the freedom it brings yourself, and shown me my purpose in this life, and that is to give kids the voice I didn't have. While the party was going on, and my friend's mom was in the house, this neighbor cornered me in a bathroom and abused me. The parents can then share the information that the schools provided with anyone else in their household. Alaska Dispatch: Do you think most lawmakers meaningfully comprehend the issue of sexual abuse? Merryn: I have witnessed some lawmakers come in voting against the bill who got on their mic after hearing me testify and (told) me they had all planned to vote against this bill and that my testimony changed their mind. I remember immediately after answering the interviewer I said "That's the reason I didn't tell before, I kept it to myself because I thought no one would believe me." Lawmakers are in the dark about this. She explained to her cousin that she didnt want to publish it out of revenge, rather to help the millions of other sexual assault survivors. She is not ashamed of the sexual abuse she endured as a child and, instead, feels inspired to put a face and voice on childhood sexual abuse. And it was at her house the very first overnight that I woke up to her uncle who lived in the home sexually abusing me, said Merryn. She was afraid she would be a burden to her cousin and that no one would believe her. Alaska Dispatch: When you broke your silence and spoke up, was it frightening? You will eventually hear about this law being passed in all 50 states, and I plan on one day taking it and making it international, said Erin. She has made it her mission in life to get this legislation passed in all 50 states. Merryn: This wasn't bad luck. Erin has been traveling state to state testifying to lawmakers to pass Erin's law for 7 years. Merryn: Yes. ThediaryIkept my secrets locked away in, where I lost my innocence, I turned into a book mysenior year of high school called Stolen Innocence, because thats whathappened to me, Merryn said. Erin Merryn (born February 2, 1985) is the author of Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, and An Unimaginable Act. For the next hour I relived as much as I was capable of sharing and just kept finding myself focusing on the large mirror having no clue their was a detective on the other side listening to my entire story and am very glad I did not know. She has appeared on Oprah, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, TLC documentary Breaking the Silence, CBS This Morning, Katie Couric, Tamaron Hall, 700 Club, and over 200 local media stations. Alaska Dispatch: Silence is a powerful way in which sexual abuse is kept secret and is perpetuated. The instruction will be provided by a school nurse who has completed professional development sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention. The fact that a motel is not telling families that sex offenders are living there should be a crime, Merryn said. He continued to abuse her on and off for nearly two years, she says, often at holidays and celebrations with her close-knit extended family. She didn't want to stop visiting her friend but tried to find times when Richard wasn't around. This law could have given me the ability to know I would be believed, that this is not a secret to keep, and how to report it. Do not use the phrases good touch and bad touch, says Merryn. Forgiving him allowed me to move forward with my life and decide to no longer let this thing be something I should be ashamed of, no longer allowing it to be a negative in my life, but letting it be a positive.. What are the most persistent knowledge gaps? Buccos bill requires all school districts to incorporate age-appropriate sexual abuse awareness and prevention education in grades preschool through 12 as part of Core Curriculum Content Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. Erins Law is a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. Her dad singled me out during the party. Named by PEOPLE Magazine a HEROES Among us and one of fifteen women changing the world. The abuse continued and Erin struggled with the secret that hung over her, a secret that eventually destroyed a family and took Erin's innocence. She has now dedicated her life to protecting our nations children. Erin Merryn's memoir is about how her life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted."I thought when the abuse stopped I could move on with my life. Two against one, somebody had to believe us.. See all See top. Merryn suffered sexual abuse by a male neighbor at ages six to eight[2] and by a teenage cousin at ages 11 to 13. It was the first federal bill passed funding sexual abuse prevention education. She is an activist against child sexual abuse. In her diary Erin Merryn reveals how her life was transformed one night when, as an eleven-year-old, she was sexually abused in her grandparents condo by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. Erins Law soon caught on nationwide. MORE: Moms and dads, can we talk about stranger danger? Meetings between the two families were called to sort out the problem, to no avail. So, instead of speaking out, the only person she told her thoughts and feelings to was herself in the form of a little pink diary. Read more about Erins Law at www.erinslaw.org, or about Erin herself at www.erinmerryn.net. Child molestation is an epidemic that needs to end now. It can happen to anyone, which is why we need to empower our children with their voice to speak up and tell and to not keep it a secret if they are abused. Merryn spoke to members of the Ohio Senate Primary and Secondary Education Committee of how she was sexually abused as a child. It brings it all back to the surface. Silence Broken and Stigmas Shattered -- Help for Incest Survivors Is Here Fans of Erin Merryn's heart-wrenching debut memoir Stolen Innocence were left wondering at the end what would become of an emotionally fragile Erin after her confrontation with the reality of being a child of incest and molestation. She kept quiet, but behavior problems soon followed. Those were just the number of children who broke their silence that year. In 2010, Merryn began a crusade to get Erin's Law passed across America. Throughout her school years, Erin Merryn of Schaumburg, Ill., received plenty of lessons in the dangers her elders thought she could encounter during her childhood. The cousin used the same tactic as her first abuser telling her no one would believe her and there was no proof. Erin Merryn, survivor of sexual abuse as a child and the driving force behind Erin's Law, speaks to an auditorium full of students at Metamora Township High School last Monday, March 12. Under Erins Law, the New Jersey Commissioner of Education must provide school districts with age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources designed to implement this requirement. Every parent should do their homework before they send their kids anywhere. But nothing prepared her for two traumatizing events that have turned Merryn, now 25, into an activist, determined to prevent the same thing from happening to other children. Its somebody they know and trust.. Alaska's version of Erin's Law is currently under consideration by the Alaska State Legislature as House Bill 233. Behind those numbers are the faces of innocent children whose childhoods were shattered by actions of evil and sickness. So before CAC's a child brought to a police station could be filled with anxiety and fear that they are in trouble. Again, she started having trouble in school, becoming distant and withdrawn. (2013) CNN Newsroom Self - Child Abuse Survivor. [2] The family pressed charges, and the cousin eventually confessed to three counts of child sexual abuse. The book is titled "Stolen Innocence." She wanted him to know how much his actions had affected her life. Erins ongoing abuse with her friends uncle was over. Maryland is the latest state, joining the crusade last month. Erin Merryn is the author of three books about surviving incest, including "Living for Today." She also speaks nationally on the subject. Erin is now on a mission to persuade all 50 states to pass Erins Law, which mandates that all public schools use age-appropriate curricula to teach students how to tell on anyone who touches or attempts to touch their private parts. Its word for word my diary from the ages of 10 until my senior year of high school. JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) - Illinois woman Erin Merryn spoke in Wisconsin Wednesday, pushing the state to pass the law in her namesake that aims to protect children and prevent child sexual abuse. The man, then in his late 20s, abused her several more times in the next year, including, she says, raping her during a daytime visit when she thought he wouldn't be home. But many schools, she said, are using faculty social workers and psychologists because research shows its better taught by in-house staff then outside agencies. Visiting Alaska this week, Erin Merryn is a long way from home, and even farther from the torturous past she endured as a sexually abused child. 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