CW: Sexual abuse

"Someone has to do something. And so I started devoting all my time to try to understand what causes this, how prevalent is this, how do people heal from this? And most importantly, how can we stop this? So my entry before I even got to sacred sexuality, spirituality, and sexuality, I was actually focused primarily on the side of sexual abuse, awareness, and prevention..."

- DeShannon Bowens

Fall into this beautiful conversation with DeShannon Barnes-Bowens, author, psychotherapist, Ifa priestess, interfaith minister, and founder of ILERA, an organization that focuses on sexuality and spirituality, intimate partner violence, vicarious trauma, and wellness. Join us as we talk about how she found her life-work and how she brings all of herself to it's expression.

In this episode we discuss:
-African indigenous wisdom
-Sacred sexuality
-Intimate partner violence
-Healing sexual trauma
-Revisiting and revising previously completed projects
-Interfaith dialogue
-Vicarious trauma

We also shouted out a few great books: Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, by adrienne maree brown; Push, by Sapphire; and Hush Hush: An African American Family Breaks Their Silence on Sexuality & Sexual Abuse, by DeShannon Bowens

You can find DeShannon at www.ilera.com, on Facebook @ilera_ny or on Twitter @OmiFasina