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. The abuse continued until she was almost 9. I continued to write him because I wanted answers. At no time should the school provide the information directly to the student (unless the student is over 18). One personal safety lesson learned at school that actually helped me in life was "stranger danger." My sister and I told our parents the next day (and) we were referred to the Children's Advocacy Center by police detectives to be interviewed. I tell parents the best way to talk to kids about this is through the swimsuit lesson, Merryn said. My abusers threatened me, and I believed them. Her friend slept through the assault, and Merryn remained silent. The shame is so overwhelming. Unfortunately for many survivors they never see their perpetrators held accountable. 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. Mar 22, 2018 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. Confronting him empowered me and eventually allowed me to forgive him when he wrote a letter apologizing. Erin said the abuse stopped after her sister spoke up about her own abuse. She is an activist against child sexual abuse as well as the founder of Erin's Law, which requires public schools to teach children personal body safety in order to prevent child sexual abuse. Merryn: I was terrified. "The new bill brings a mandate," Merryn said, "mandating that all (Illinois) schools--pre-school through 12th grade--must begin next fall teaching sexual-abuse prevention education in the schools." So many children will be protected because of her." The Children's Advocacy Center of Northwest Cook County Illinois. Last week the law passed in two more states, Virginia and Wyoming, bringing the total to 34. What's your advice for sexual abuse victims who may want to come forward, but who feel the abuse is better kept secret or forgotten? The same year I was born in 1985 was the first year the development of the first CAC in America was born in Alabama. After graduating with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in social work from Western Illinois and Aurora Universities in 2008 and 2009, Health Communications published her second book, Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness. Erin's Law, named after Erin Merryn, has passed in 36 states and is pending in the other 14. She is an activist against child sexual abuse. Merryn successfully passed it in her state of Illinois in 2013 and has been traveling from one state capital to another testifying to state lawmakers to . The voice that was silenced for so long. (Read why most child abuse goes unreported). Merryn didn't tell anyone until she was 13 and she suspected her sister was also being abused. She is the force behind passing Erin's Law across America. The girls were brought to a Children's Advocacy Center where they had to tell their stories to complete strangers, something Erin wasnt looking forward to at all. The book is titled "Stolen Innocence." More than 90 percent of children who are sexually abused know their attacker, Bucco said with conviction. Ensuring all New Jersey kids have access to age-appropriate sexual abuse prevention education will end the cycle of abuse before it begins. 5 talking about this. (2013) Merryn says her abuse ended when the family moved to a new neighborhood, Schaumburg, Illinois but she took her secret with her. At a family gathering at her grandparents' lake house, she awoke in the middle of the night to find her cousin "Brian" (again, not his real name), then 13 . It was the first federal bill passed funding sexual abuse prevention education. Well, something shocking happened. But then, it started happening behind closed doors at crowded family functions. Erin Merryn, a sexual abuse survivor, applauds Stewart for making her story public. My mom was a mess, that day she probably cried for 10 straight hours, looking at my dad saying, we missed all the red flags, her grades, she was depressed, Erin recalled. I know that when theres one in four girls and one in six boys (being abused) Im not the only one standing in this room that this has happened to, Erin said of the statistics. Erin has been traveling state to state testifying to lawmakers to pass Erin's law for 7 years. COURIER/JOELLYN CURRY Lawmakers are in the dark about this. I remember reading this thinking, they dont teach us that in school. You will be believed.. After an evening of playing with Ashley's dollhouse and watching The Little Mermaid, the girls went to bed in Ashley's room. Children must be taught to tell a trusted adult if anyone touches their private parts. It would be many more years until that voice would become the strong, confident woman that I have become. In just a few short years, she has already persuaded half the countryto pass similar versions of the law. The yearly videos had educated me, so I knew to tell the stranger to keep his change. A safe touch could be a high five or hug and an unsafe touch is someone touching you in the areas covered by your swimsuit, or your private parts, Merryn said. Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. I am so confident I will get this law passed in all 50 states, because God has already told me it will happen. Erin also included the correspondence between her cousin and herself, for readers to also hear the perpetrator's side. 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. Do I know the difference between the truth and a lie? I was told repeatedly by my cousin that I had no proof, that he would deny it, that no one would believe me. Here's how to protect your kids from online predators. 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." Erin Merryn was an innocent child of six when her best friend asked her to sleepover. It was the first time she supported a school mandate, and she retired later that year. On Thursday, Quinn signed "Erin's Law" at the Children's Advocacy Center of North and Northwest Cook County in Hoffman Estates. I wouldn't have quit my job four years ago as a master's level counselor to go after this had I not been lead by the Lord. The first episode began on a warm May night in 1991. Her name is Erin Merryn and she is the founder of Erins Law. Partly cloudy. She urged kids to come forward if they or someone they know is being sexually abused. I survived it and eventually learned how to thrive from it by breaking my silence and putting a face and voice on this silent epidemic. Forgiving him did not mean what he did was right, she stressed. I just wanted to get it over with.She was a forensic interviewer who had been trained to interview children who had reported abuse. Alaska Dispatch: In your quest to get Erin's Law passed in every state, you must have encountered some surprising remarks. The only difference is now I am running from him in my dreams" (Merryn 49). I also tell parents don't give childrens private parts pet names. Victims of abuse know their perpetrators 80% to 90% of the time, says David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Here's How We Amplify It | National Children's Alliance", "Erin Merryn Fights for Law to Help Child Sexual Assault Victims", "Erin's Law: When the Abuser Is No Stranger", "State Senate Passes Erin Merryn's Law Aimed at Child Sex Abuse Prevention", "Survivor Recalls Alleged Incest in Book", "Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Gets Law Passed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erin_Merryn&oldid=1132623568, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 January 2023, at 19:15. My name is Erin Merryn and I am a survivor of child sexual abuse. Merryn: Many don't realize that there are 42 million survivors in America of child sexual abuse. EN RU CN DE ES. But instead of telling everyone to vote against it, she told everyone to vote in support of this bill. Erins Law has now going international with judge in Kerala India requiring Erins Law in the 2023-2024 school year. 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. This law requires personal body safety taught to children Pre-K to 12th grade through an age appropriate curriculum. But her parents thought it was because of health problems she was having at the time. But only 1 in every 10 sexually abused children ever tell anyone about it. (See Gary Glitter's sex scandal.). Two of those children were my sister and I. Choosing to forgive has led me to live for today. (2016) Consider This Self - Author and Children's Advocate. It was so brutal I thought I was dying, Merryn, Glamour magazines 2012 Woman of the Year, recalled in an interview with the Asbury Park Press. Erin, a Chicago-area native, first introduced the legislation in Illinois, and the bill was given her namesake. "A Child's Best Defense Is Her Voice. Was this just bad luck? The family pressed charges against Brian, who ultimately admitted to three counts of sexual abuse. Wow, I have a decision to make. The abuse went on for years. 25 $. Download it here. ALBANY, N.Y. - The Independent Democratic Conference was joined today by Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, (D-Bronx), and nationally recognized anti-abuse advocate and survivor Erin Merryn to hail the passage of important legislation to stamp out child sexual abuse in New York. He was free, but the rage inside Erin remained. So far 27 states have passed Erins Law since 2010. See the sex abuse in Israel's ultra-orthodox community. The next steps for the bill remain unknown. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, I met my best friend in kindergarten. She started by pulling out that little pink diary. Merryn (whose other books are Stolen Innocence and Living for Today), the mother of a toddler girl, says this is a conversation parents must have every year and often. Merryn's family, including her two sisters, moved to another neighborhood in the same town when Merryn was 8, and she stopped seeing Ashley. She is an activist against child sexual abuse. She was abused. Erin Merryn detailed the treatment and help she received from the Children's Advocacy Center, which has 900 locations across the U.S.A. - a safe environment for children to share their stories of abuse. She came to me after I had been abused for two years and told me words I never expected to hear, that she too was being abused by the same family member. At age 11, Erin fell victim again. A judge did sentenced her cousin to probation and counseling. Erin Merryn is a powerful speaker and advocate for countless, faceless children and adults in our country who have similarly suffered sexual abuse. The law was passed in a number of states,[7] with New York becoming the 37th in 2019. Erin decided at a young age to take a stand against evil and expose the silent epidemic of child sexual abuse in the spotlight. The day I left that place I took a piece of my life back, and that was my voice. How? In 2008, Erin decided to step up her efforts to protect children nationwide and started writing state legislators to ask them to pass laws requiring schools to better educate children, school employees and parents how to prevent and stop child sexual abuse. When I look at you, I see nothing but scum. I often say victims are those who are killed by their attackers. Her testimony was met with a standing ovation. Check out pictures, bibliography, and biography of Erin Merryn Merryn is now taking her fight to the state of Alabama. Info here from RAINNwww.rainn.org/news/president-signs-measures-support-state-action-prevent-and-address-child-sexual-abuseErin's media appearances have included Access Hollywood 2020Tamron Hall 2020HLN 2020CBS Morning Show 2019The Morning Blend 2019CNN 2018, HLN 2018, BUILD 2018 TLC Breaking the Silence Documentary TODAY show 2015, Nancy Grace 2015, ABC Nightline 2015, CNN 2015, Dr. Drew 2015, Inside Edition 2015, MSNBC 2015, Oprah Winfrey Network 2014, Windy City Live 2014, MSNBC 2013, FOX 2013, Katie Couric 2013, Oprah Life Class 2012, CNN 2012, Issues with Jane Velez Mitchell 2011, Oprah Winfrey Show October 2010, Montel Williams in April/July 2006, and Good Morning America in May 2006. See all See top. Someone should have known in my earlier years when I was being abused by an adult neighbor. The look in this mans eyes, the color shirt he was wearing and the last thing he said to me, Dont you dare tell anybody. That is just (in) America. 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. How do you identify? The first abuser, our neighbor, is someone I think who did this to any girl he had access to. Do not use the phrases good touch and bad touch, says Merryn. He'd conditioned and kept me silent for two years, so he knew he could get away with that behavior, even with so many people around. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two daughters. But at age 11, Merryn's second nightmare began. 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. Merryn travels the country advocating for children who are victims of sexual assault. You didn't just tell one person. My parents believed me and my cousin Brian confessed to the police, she said. These days hes almost 9 and I dont really tag along to play dates anymore, but every time I drop him off, I tell him, if you have to use the bathroom, lock the door and have privacy. Chris Newlin - National Children's Advocacy Center My abuse first happened at weeks shy of my seventh birthday by a neighbor it went on until age 8 and a half. Names were the only thing she changed. So, she forgave him. It brings it all back to the surface. Glamour magazine named Merryn Woman of the Year 2012, and People magazine named her one of fifteen women changing the world and a HEROES Among us in 2013.[9]. By speaking up even when family is against the idea, it is freedom for a survivor and allows them to reclaim a piece of their lives back. [8] In November 2009, she published a second book, Living For Today, discussing earlier abuse by her neighbor. [7] She published her diary detailing her cousin's abuse and her own recovery, relapse and reconciliation in book form as Stolen Innocence in 2005. One day, a particular entry she wrote caught her eye. 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. She also wantsteachers andstafftrained on the topic. Families pressuring loved ones to stay quiet is not uncommon, but as I often like to tell survivors, by speaking up you are not only helping yourself heal; you will help save other children from experiencing this same horror at the hands of their abuser. The next day they told their parents. That's where, 14 years ago, a then-13-year-old Erin Merryn first . Merryn cautions that you can never just go by how many registered sex offenders are in your area. 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