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Erin Merryn

Erin Merryn Biography

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“Along with the trust issues, one of the hardest parts to deal with is the feeling of not being believed or supported, especially by your own grandparents and extended family. When I have been through so much pain and hurt and have to live with the scars every day, I get angry knowing that others think it is all made up or they brush it off because my cousin was a teenager. I was ten when I was first sexually abused by my cousin, and a majority of my relatives have taken the perpetrator's side. I have cried many times about everything and how my relatives gave no support or love to me as a kid when this all came out. Not one relative ever came up to that innocent little girl I was and said "I am sorry for what you went through" or "I am here for you." Instead they said hurtful things: "Oh he was young." "That is what kids do." "It is not like he was some older man you didn't know." Why does age make a difference? It is a sick way of thinking. Sexual abuse is sexual abuse. What is wrong with this picture? It brings tears to my eyes the way my relatives have reacted to this and cannot accept the truth. Denial is where they would rather stay.”

FamilyIssuesTrustDenialSurvivorSexual AbuseRapeTriggersDisbeliefCopingChild Sexual AbuseIncestDisclosureDysfunctional FamilySociety DenialDysfunctional FamiliesChild RapeChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorAbuse SurvivorMolestationMinimizationLack Of SupportPedophile ProtectorsMolestMolested
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“I lived through this horror, and no one can tell me I have to stay quiet. "I have been silenced long enough, and I will not allow that family to silence me again. I will continue to speak out and make sure my voice is heard.”

InspirationalEmpowermentRapeRape CultureTriggerAbuse SurvivorChild Abuse SurvivorSpeak Out
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“So often parents of abused children feel helpless. When a child falls, and scrapes her knees parents can erase the hurt by kissing it and putting a Band-Aid on it, but not so with the pain of sexual abuse.”

ParentingParentsSurvivorChild AbuseSexual AbuseRapeChild Sexual AbuseRape CultureTrigger
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“I felt like I needed to comfort both the little girl inside me and my mother, assuring them that neither of them could have prevented the rape. I didn't want my mother to blame herself and I didn't want to blame the little girl inside of me for not speaking up at the age of six.”

AwarenessShameBlameGuiltParentingParentsSpeaking OutTriggerChild Abuse SurvivorRape SurvivorTrigger WarningChild MolestationErin Merryn
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“She was so upset about a blog that maybe a total of six people read yet had no compassion for her granddaughters who had suffered the physical and emotional pains of sexual abuse and whose lives were changed forever. The two cannot even be compared, yet when someone is in denial about what happened, they cannot perceive what is true. It seemed too hard for her to let her mind go there and believe her grandson could do such terrible things.”

FamilyDenialSexual AbuseRapeDisbeliefChild Sexual AbuseIncestRape CultureDysfunctional FamilyDysfunctional FamiliesChild RapeTriggerVictim BlamingChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorLack Of EmpathyLack Of CompassionSpeak OutTrigger WarningLack Of SupportChild RapistPedophile Protectots
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“My goal in going public was not to put my extended family to shame, or to get back at Brian for abusing my sister and me; rather, my mission was to give a face and voice to an epidemic that society stays hushed about.”

Child AbuseRapeChild Sexual AbuseIncestRape CultureEpidemicTriggerMolestationTrigger WarningErin Merryn
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“My mom called Grandma today and told her we would no longer be attending family parties. My mom told her we have had enough of being blamed for something Brian did and everyone brushing it off like it was no big deal.”

BlameDenialChild AbuseChild Sexual AbuseAbuse SurvivorsIncestAssertivenessDysfunctional FamilyChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorFamily ConflictPedophile Protector
Book:Stolen Innocence: Triumphing Over a Childhood Broken by Abuse: A Memoir
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“If someone would have talked in school about safe touch and unsafe touch, I believe I would have spoken up as a child and not been victimized over and over again for years, but that day never came, which is why my mission now is to protect children from the childhood I could not be protected from.”

EducationChild AbuseChild Sexual AbuseChildhood Sexual AbuseRevictimisationChild Abuse Prevention
Book:An Unimaginable Act: Overcoming and Preventing Child Abuse Through Erin's Law
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“Imagine the message that sent to my sister and me. A cousin violates us, confesses, and walks away with barely a slap on the wrist. I learned at a young age that if I was ever going to see justice for the wrongs done to me, I had to find it myself.”

InspirationalAwarenessCrimeInjusticeSexual AbuseRapeViolationChild Sexual AbuseIncestRape CultureChild RapeTriggerChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorAbuse SurvivorRape SurvivorJuvenile DelinquencyRape Of A ChildRapedChild Rapist
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“By opening the door to my life, it is my hope and mission to shed light on the hidden wounds of abuse, to end the stigma and shame associated with abuse, and to show survivors true courage, strength, inspiration, and determination.”

InspirationalHopeAwarenessSexual AbuseChild Sexual AbuseRape CultureTriggerSexual Abuse SurvivorChild Sexual Abuse PreventionErin Merryn
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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“While my sister and I were reminded we did not cause this pain, it was knowing that because we broke our silence about what had been done to us, our parents were hurting. That knowledge was hard on us.”

PainSurvivorSympathyChild AbuseChild Sexual AbuseTriggerAbuse SurvivorEmpathy FamilyPain In Others
Book:Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness
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