Support For Survivors | Sexual Abuse Survivor Legal Advocates

Thank you for tuning in to Season 3 of Support For Survivors. We will be taking a short break to gear up for Season 4. See you in a few weeks.

Our next Survivor Story features Melonie. She talks about her experience growing up in a close-knit church community that she refers to as a cult. Melonie talks about her religious upbringing and a lack of discussion about sex left her vulnerable to being sexually abused by her father when she was a child. Melonie describes how religion, shame, and the trauma of sexual abuse impacted her personal journey to healing and offers advice for other survivors.Guest- MelonieAbout Melonie:Melonie is an adult survivor of child sexual abuse who has a passion for helping others break through shame in order to live a life more fulfilled. As a child and family psychotherapist, she helps families create meaning out of their most difficult experiences and find a path to healing. In her free time, she co-hosts a podcast with her sister - Sisters Unashamed. They discuss all topics "shameful" and "taboo" with little to no shame. Melonie’s social media:Podcast: Sisters UnashamedInstagram: @SistersUnashamedFacebook: SistersUnashamedTikTok: @SistersUnashamed

Interview with Aarefah, a sexual abuse survivorWe are grateful for our listeners. So many survivors have tuned in, listened to our show, and have sent messages asking to come on and share their stories. We are honored to bring you another interview in our popular Survivor Series. Aarefah is a sexual assault survivor and human rights advocate. She was assaulted by a fellow college student who she worked with at her university’s math tutoring service. Aarefah shares her experience as she reported the assault and pursued justice through the legal system. She also provides advice for other survivors who are navigating their own path to healing.Guest- AarefahAbout AarefahAarefah is a human rights advocate who has served as a keynote speaker on several college campuses including UC Berkeley, Diablo Valley College, Diablo Valley Peace and Justice Center, San Francisco State University, Pasadena City College, Wayne State University, University of Michigan and UC Irvine. You can find more information about Aarefah’s quest for justice here. 

Our Survivor Series continues with Rabbi Avremi Zippel of Salt Lake City, Utah. Rabbi Zippel is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an outspoken advocate for children and legislative reform. He shares his story of abuse at the hands of his family’s babysitter and how he struggled for years to come to terms with the trauma that it caused. He also discusses his experience through the legal system as he sought justice from his abuser. Rabbi Zippel talks about fear, shame, religion and the challenge of navigating the emotional fallout that accompanies the journey that sexual abuse survivors go through. Guest: Rabbi Avremi ZippelAbout Rabbi ZippelRabbi Avremi Zippel lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife and family. He is the Program Director ot Chabad Lubavitch of Utah. He and his wife founded Young Jewish Professionals Utah in 2016, which has since grown to become the most prominent community of its kind across Utah. The organizations provides networking, spiritual and humanitarian offerings to young men and women in their 20s and 30s. In 2021, Rabbi Zippel was nominated to serve a four-year term on the Utah Council on Victims of Crime, a committee put in place by Utah’s legislature. Social Media:Twitter: @UtahRabbiInstagram: @UtahRabbi

Interview with Joelle, a sexual abuse survivorOur next Survivor Story interview features Joelle, who discusses school sexual abuse. Joelle talks about being groomed and sexually abused by her high school choir teacher. She shares her experience of working through the trauma and getting to a point in her healing journey where she advocates for other survivors.Guest- Joelle CasteixAbout JoelleJoelle is an author, journalist and speaker. She is a founding member of the Zero Abuse Project and has written several books on the topic of child sexual abuse. She was also a featured Ted Talk speaker. Links to her materials are below.Watch Joelle’s Ted Talk: The Power of ResponsibilityJoelle’s Books: The Power of Responsibility                          The Well-Armored Child: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Sexual AbuseThe Compassionate Response: How to help and empower the adult victim of child sexual abuseScram: A Parent’s Quick-Start Guide to Preventing, Identifying, and Ending BullyingJoelle on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Our Survivor Series continues with Kalpashree, who talks about her survivor journey and how working with a career coach led her to engage with a therapist to help her heal from sexual trauma. Kalpa talks about the difficulty of dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse by a family member and how she ultimately opened a dialogue and began her healing. About KalpaKalpa Gupta is an advisor, consultant & coach. As the CEO of Knekxt Group (a consulting company) and as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Kalpa now helps her clients build trust, mitigate risk, and grow in profitability and equitability, while also creating internal awareness for the high achievers and working parents who, like her, have used their achievements and responsibilities to deflect from dealing with trauma.Connect with Kalpa:LinkedIn profile & newsletter: Kalpashree Gupta https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalpashreegupta/Website: https://knekxt.com/TikTok: @knekxt.com

Interview with CohenMalad, LLP managing partner Irwin Levin and personal injury practice chair Greg Laker.Do you ever wonder what drives people to take on difficult challenges? Like why would an attorney choose to dedicate a significant amount of their legal practice to representing sexual abuse victims in civil court when other types of cases aren’t as heavy on the heart and mind?In this episode, managing partner Irwin Levin and personal injury practice chair Greg Laker to talk about what influenced them to build a sexual abuse litigation practice at the firm. They share heartfelt stories of how they made a difference in their clients’ lives and suggestions for sexual abuse survivors to consider when looking for legal representation.  Guests- Irwin Levin, CohenMalad, LLP managing partnerGreg Laker, CohenMalad, LLP partner and personal injury practice chair

Interview with Mike McCarty of Safe Hiring SolutionsMike McCarty founder of Safe Hiring Solutions talks about the need for in-depth, comprehensive background screening of employment candidates and volunteers. Mike talks about how his experience in law enforcement and entrepreneurial spirit led him to create Safe Hiring Solutions to help schools, non-profits, businesses, faith-based organizations and churches conduct thorough background checks on potential employees and volunteers. Mike and Shaunestte also talk about the upcoming Regional Church Safety Summit: Creating a Culture of Abuse Prevention scheduled for September 22, 2022.About MikeMike McCarty is the founder and CEO of Safe Hiring Solutions. His company consults with thousands of schools, businesses, non-profits, faith-based organizations and churches across the United States to develop violence prevention programs, mitigate risk of violence and prepare them to react in the event of violence.Mike has over 25 years of violence prevention experience and served the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department as a detective of violent crimes. He serves as a board member for the Domestic Violence Network of Indianapolis and the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. Social MediaTwitter @MikeMccartySHSFacebook @SafeHiring Solutions, LLCThe Safety Zone Podcast, a 360 degree approach to security

Interview with Beth White, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human TraffickingBeth White, the President and CEO of ICESAHT, talks about the steps her organization is taking across the state of Indiana to help sexual assault and human trafficking victims. Beth shares how her background in public service prepared her to lead ICESAHT in building strong partnerships with organizations that provide direct services to victims and providing prevention education across Indiana. Beth also talks about House Enrolled Act 1079 that clarifies what consent means when it comes to allegations of rape and how this can help victims seeking justice.   Website: ICESAHTInstagram: @ICESAHTFacebook: @ICESAHTGuest- Beth White, ICESAHT President and CEO

Our next Survivor Series interview is with Amy. Amy talks about her survivor journey which includes being sexually abused as a child and later in life as an adult. While seeking therapy to heal from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse, Amy was sexually abused by her therapist. She wrote a book detailing her experience about being re-traumatized and the challenges that all survivors go through in navigating the emotions of coming forward to report abuse. She hopes that people will find her book helpful as they progress through their own survivor journeys. Guest- Amy NordhuesAbout AmyAmy is a passionate Christ-follower and expert on the healing God provides. She has a BA in psychology with minors in sociology and criminology. Her devotions have been published in The Secret Place (Judson Press) devotional series. Her essay, Give Me a Sign, won 2nd place at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Foundation Awards. Her memoir, Prayed Upon, won the Inspire Christian Writers’ “Great Openings” contest for non-fiction. She is a married mother of three and enjoys spending time with family, writing, reading, photography and all things comedy.Amy on Social MediaFacebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTokBookPrayed Upon: Breaking Free from Therapist Abuse

Boz Tchividjian, an attorney who represents sexual abuse survivors in civil courts throughout the US, takes a deeper dive into sexual abuse within faith communities. He discusses the impact the trauma of sexual abuse perpetrated by leaders and trusted advisors within a church environment has on victims and what churches can do better to protect & help their communities. This is an important conversation for everyone regardless of religion.About Boz TchividjianBoz is an experienced litigator and has handled hundreds of civil and criminal cases throughout his career. He is a former Assistant State Attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida where he created the first Sex Crimes Division at the Office of the State Attorney and served as the Division Chief. Boz is also the Founder and former Executive Director of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), a nonprofit organization that provides faith-based institutions with the tools they need to correctly respond to allegations of sexual abuse and educates them on how to create safeguards to protect children and vulnerable people within their communities.Twitter: @BozTTwitter: @Netgrace_org

Survivor Series: Arlette. Arlette was sexually abused as a child and talks about how she went from victim to survivor to thriver. She shares important aspects of her healing journey and discusses the similarities between physical healing and mental healing. Arlette writes about this process and draws parallels to how broken bones heal in her book There’s More Beyond Surviving – Journey to Life. She is also the host of the Journey to Life podcast. Below are links to resources she has created to share her story and help others. Guest- Arlette Jones-LawsonBook:There's More Beyond Surviving - Journey to Life Podcast: Journey to Life Podcast link to YouTube channel 

Courtney Curtis, Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, talks about several new laws that will be added to Indiana books to help victims of rape and other violent crimes. Courtney shares how legislators worked together to pass HB1079 “Elements of Rape Bill” and discusses how the language in the soon-to-be new law will help victims seeking justice. She also talks about the important role that each of us play in sharing our voice with our legislators and providing them with the information they need in order to craft legislation that can better protect us and our families. Guest- Courtney Curtis

Hear from Kelly, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and advocate. Kelly grew up as a child of Christian missionaries who served all over the world. She shares the story of her abuse and healing but also speaks about her work in helping other victims of sexual abuse within the church. Kelly created a podcast called Survivor Sanctuary and regularly examines issues that many survivors of sexual abuse face. She talks about the responsibility that adults and faith leaders have in protecting children from sexual predators. Her podcast can be found at the link below or wherever you regularly tune in to your favorite podcasts.  Guest- Kelly DowningSurvivor Sanctuary podcast

Hear from Lee Buckingham, Prosecuting Attorney for Hamilton County, about the work that Lee’s office has done to support public safety efforts and serve its residents.Lee joined the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in 1995 as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and has spent the bulk of his first 16 years with the office handling major felony cases from financial and property crimes to violent offenses like rape, child molesting, burglary, robbery, and murder. Since 2011 Lee has been leading the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorneys Office as the elected Prosecuting Attorney. The population has grown from approximately 274,000 to over 350,000 today. Despite the monumental growth and change, one thing has not changed. Hamilton County has remained a wonderful and very safe place to live, often ranked as one of the top places in the nation to live.Guest- D. Lee Buckingham II, Hamilton County Prosecutor

Survivor Story: Tenita, a survivor of sexual abuse, has truly moved from survivor to thriver. Tenita Johnson is a 15x best-selling author, speaker and mentor to both men and women who have suffered from sexual abuse. She has a passion for helping others and believes in the power of storytelling to heal and help others on their healing journey. Not only is she a survivor of sexual abuse but she is an advocate for others who have suffered the trauma of sexual abuse. Her recent book, HUSH: Breaking the Cycle of Silence Around Sexual Abuse is an anthology that features eight women who lost their innocence and identity to life-altering trauma.Guest- Tenita JohnsonTwitter: @TenitaJEditorFB: Tenita “Bestseller” Johnsonwww.tenitajohnson.com

Our popular Survivor Series is back. This episode features Ayanda. She is a sexual abuse survivor living in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ayanda has written two books They Raped Me Now What and Life After Rape. She is also the founder of Thriver: Healing from Within, a trauma-informed yoga initiative and is an acclaimed motivational speaker. Host- Shaunestte TerrellGuest- Ayanda Ngema

We continue our survivor series with Rolf. Rolf was sexually abused when he was a young boy by his father. He talks about the impact this abuse had on his life and how he gained the courage to confront his father about the abuse later in life. Warning: This episode may be triggering to some people. Please listen with care.Host- Shaunestte TerrellGuest- Rolf

  We continue our Survivor Series with Ashley. Ashley was sexually abused by her teacher when she high school. She shares how she got the courage to come forward and report her abuse and how change is needed in the way that schools handle reports of sexual abuse. Her interview sheds light on the issue of educator sexual abuse and how too many times reports of teachers, coaches or administrators abusing kids get ignored or are not shared with law enforcement. It’s time to work together to protect our kids.   Host- Shaunestte Terrell   Guest- Ashley

  Host Shaunestte Terrell talks with Stephanie, a sexual abuse survivor. Stephanie talks about her journey of healing after sexual abuse which includes writing a book Transformation After Trauma: Embracing Post-Traumatic Growth and becoming a life coach to help others on their own path to achievement.   Host- Shaunestte Terrell Guest- Stephanie