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National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
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CSA Survivor Force
The mission of CSA Survivor Force is to provide factual information about child sexual abuse (CSA) in a gripping manner to all forms of mass media to inform and educate large populations, reduce the stigma to discuss the topic, and affect change in individual and societal behaviors, policies and procedures across the U.S. and the world. |
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Child sexual abuse can be prevented and treated with a conscious and sustained effort.
Member - CSA Survivor Force:
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Jillian Short | |
Jillian Short -
Maryland based activist
alwaysavoice@gmail.com
240 / 346-0932
www.alwaysavoice.com - NAASCA volunteer
I am the founder of Always a Voice® (www.alwaysavoice.com), a local and web-based support group, committed to provide encouragement and awareness to adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) and other forms of trauma.
I was subjected to sexual abuse until I was seven. When I was twelve, my parents and I went to Micronesia as missionaries with Evangelism Missions Inc. I loved it! I learned the language, embraced the culture, and eventually became interpreter for our mission church. My abuse became a distant memory—buried and unaddressed.
Years later, still deep in the clutches of my church affiliation, I married a man who was physically abusive—with the church's backing—under the doctrine/belief of “Biblical Patriarchy”. Then the unthinkable happened. I discovered my children were being sexually abused. My world crashed around me.
I wish I could say I was strong and tenacious. I wasn't. The knowledge of my children's abuse filled me with such pain I could barely function. Guilt engulfed me. How could this have happened? I'd been abused myself— Shouldn't I have been able to recognize the signs? This trauma triggered my own unresolved past, resulting in PTSD and severe anxiety disorder. |
The lack of support from our friends— especially within the church —astounded me. We were told to forgive and honor our abuser. They strictly instructed us to be silent, even telling us not to press charges, stating that “speaking out about our abuse gave the church—and thus, Jesus Christ—a bad name”. He only served an 18-month sentence. After his release, he was brought back into church leadership.
I left my toxic church—and my marriage—and began the slow, upward path toward recovery. My children began to truly heal. I was amazed to learn more about Child Sexual Abuse and its effects on us as adults. I surrounded myself with life-changing resources—and positive support.
Today, I am a court-certified translator/interpreter, co-owner of a real estate investment company, and the founder/CEO of Always a Voice®. I am an advocate with the CSA Survivor Force, a national media outreach group under Stop the Silence®/ NAASCA (http://www.naasca.org/StopTheSilence/).
I am very happily remarried and my family is thriving—more than I would have thought possible! My children have gone on to use their own voices through music, dance, art, education. Some are directly fighting against sex-trafficking and child abuse.
So far, I have authored three books and am an avid speaker in Maryland and abroad. My passion is to raise awareness on how to better recognize signs of abuse and how to combat precise issues/problems relating to the “fall out” of trauma. My fourth book, “This Little Plight of Mine©” (early 2017) speaks out against what I now define as “Church-Sanctioned Abuse©”. I am committed to use my voice (through media, newspaper, and radio) to stop the silence and perpetuation of abuse “one person, one dream, one step, one leap at a time.”
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