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Ishmael Beah grew up in Sierra Leone in a village near Matru Jong. One day he went to hang out with friends and his older brother to attend a talent show. While they were gone, the RUF rebels attacked his village and all was lost. Ishmael was unable to return home and couldn't find his family. He and his friends eventually have to join a child soldier group to stay alive. They were forced to fight, take drugs, and live a dangerous life until a charity group named UNICEF came to his country and saved some of the boys. His recovery was difficult and it took him 6 months to learn how to live a normal life again. He eventually gets adopted and he turns all of his trauma into helping others. He writes a book about his story to raise awareness of what was going on his country and he joined UNICEF to become a public speaker, save more children, and help in as many ways as possible. The main thing I learned from Beah's story is that everyone can have a second chance in life if they don't give up and to always know there is someone out there that wants to help you.

3 Sources:
1. http://alongwaygone.com/
2. https://www.unicef.org/goodwill-ambassadors/ishmael-beah
3. https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Ishmael+Beah

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A gripping story of a child's journey through hell and back.

There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words.

In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.

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A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah Official Site

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In A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER, Ishmael Beah tells his experience as a child soldier from Sierra Leone.

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Ashley Easter, born 1981 in Fairborn Ohio, advocates abuse victims after escaping the patriarchal cult in which she stayed for twenty-two years. After years of therapy and coaching she teaches and coaches other ex-cultists how to live and adjust in society.
The main thing that I learned from researching Ashley was there are people all over the world recovering from mistreatment and abuse caused by cults. We can help these people by donating tocult survivor support groups.
3 Sources:
1.https://www.ashleyeaster.com/story
2.
https://rule29.com/meet-ashley-easter/
3.
https://www.missioalliance.org/author/ashleyeaster/

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When I was 21 years old, a guy asked me a question. "Do you really believe God would want women to have to submit to men?"

I grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church in the south. Both of my grandfathers were pastors in this strict denomination. Not only that, I was homeschooled.

And, while homeschooling can be a good choice for some students in my experience it was a tool used to socially isolate me from much of the outside world and to indoctrinate me with authoritarian, patriarchal ideals.

My family and church practice something called patriarchy, the belief that men should be in power and control over women in the home, church, and in some cases society too. From the time I was a young child,

I was raised to be a "submissive" girl...

to obsess over my clothing (to make sure I wasn't causing men to lust), and to prepare to become a wife and mother of as many babies as possible.

The idea was the MANY children would be shot out into the world like arrows from a quiver sinking into different sectors of society like the home, church, government, media, and schools to dominate the world with our oppressive religious perspective.

No kidding... my dad sold homemade arrows with children's names engraved on it illustrating this point and I actually sat through a DVD lecture with other homeschool families during my teen years about "the 200 year plan"! It was a lecture mapping it all out, how we were gonna dominate the world with our patriarchal message through overpopulation. My role as a young woman was to set aside my leadership dreams, to get married, have babies and populate the planet.
So yeah, you could say I was raised in a cult.
Then something happened and EVERYTHING changed!

Needless to say in this high control community I faced many types of abuse by multiple abusers including an abusive engagement. And, I had resigned myself to submit to this way of life. I even created a blog when I was 17 called "Stay-At-Home Daughter" teaching thousands of women about adherence to the patriarchy.

Since I was a young child I had dealt with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts but after the engagement breakup I spiraled down even further.

I didn't miss the relationship but the PTSD from what I had experienced was setting in and I was having regular panic attacks, nightmares, and flashbacks to the abuse. To be honest I really didn't know how I could keep on living. Anxiety medications and therapy helped some but I was still living in that toxic community and I was being pressured to keep quiet about what had really happened.

It was about a year after my abusive engagement had ended and I was just starting to pull out of the darkest depression of my life. When one day a girl who briefly visited my church invited me to come to the coffee shop where she worked. When I arrived she introduced me to a man who loved talking religion as much as I did. Our conversation started out easy but he quickly learned my beliefs on women and submission to the patriarchy. He disagreed and believed women should have equal opportunity and should be self-controlled, not controlled by men. My 21-year-old brain started spinning.

What was this feminist nonsense?! Hadn't he read the bible?

Despite my initial resistance we did eventually begin to have a discussion and to my surprise, he actually had some good points. What's more, I didn't have answers to all of the questions he asked me despite my strong background in patriarchal bible study.

I was frustrated with myself for not having thought of those questions before and for not having an answer for him. I went home and for days began to study.

I'm going to be completely honest with you: my intention of studying was to find the right answers so I could come back to our next debate and completely blow him out of the water! I knew I was right, that he was wrong and that I should be the one to set him straight.

But to my surprise as I dug into deep study the equality arguments WERE logically answering my questions better than what I had been taught by my community... they were even compatible with my faith. This scared the hell out of me! I did not want to consider that I could have been wrong about what I had always believed. But I couldn't turn my eyes away from the truth. I knew this could change my life forever!

And it did. When I realized women were created equal and as an adult, I should be able to make my own choices, I started looking into the other things I had been taught and finding that so much of what I believed was a lie! I started studying and was finally able to identify many of the bad things that had been done to me as abuse, not just the engagement. My whole belief system taught to me by the cult fell apart.

Then things got REAL wild. I bought my own car, I started learning to swing dance, going to the movie theater, and listening to Taylor Swift! LOL That was my "rebellion" stage because all of those things had been banned.

But it wasn't until I was 22 years old when I married my now husband Will Easter and that physically removed me from the cult. He's the man of my dreams, he is pro-equality for women and he gave me a safe place to start my life over.

I'm a total feminist now but I'm not ashamed to say that he rescued me!

With the cult life over I began diving deep into my own healing with therapy, coaching, and doctor appointments. I closed down my old blog, apologized for what I used to teach and began writing about my experiences of freedom and healing from abuse.

To my surprise, hundreds of people started reaching out to me telling me that they had also experienced abuse and that church leaders or family had responded badly and in some cases even tried to cover it up! They felt so alone and isolated but I knew they were NOT alone because so many were reaching out to me telling such similar stories.

This is when I knew I needed to reclaim the power that had been stolen from me. I needed to become the leader I always knew I was deep in my soul.

I started working towards ending abuse and empowering survivors!

In 2016 The Courage Conference was born, an event to equip victim advocates and empower survivors of abuse through speakers who were trained victims advocates, mental health professionals, and survivors sharing their journeys of triumph.

Now I'm a trained abuse victim advocate, an author, a founder of an internationally attended abuse survivor conference The Courage Conference, CEO of the non-profit Courage 365, a television producer, an ordained reverend, an international speaker, an empowerment coach, spokesperson for an internationally reported-on protest, the For Such A Time As This Rally, and I serve as Vice President for the largest and oldest clergy sexual abuse victim advocacy organization, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

But most of all, I'm living my life with confidence and courage. I'm living my dream of empowering others. I'm embracing my fulfilling loving relationship with Will Easter and constantly up-leveling every area of my life!

I have a life wilder than my wildest dreams and I believe I was put here on this planet to help you achieve your freedom dreams too!

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From Cult Survivor to Global Activist | Ashley Easter

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When I was 21 years old, a guy asked me a question. "Do you really believe God would want women to have to submit to men?" I grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church in the south. Both of my grandfathers were pastors in this strict denomination.

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“Across the world, millions of women and girls live in the dark shadows of human trafficking.”, says sex trafficking activist Kendall Alaimo. Kendall had lost her childhood and part of her young adulthood to sex trafficking. She doesn’t go into much detail about her experience, but she does point out how in her healing process, she had felt that she was the one educating the clinicians about her symptoms more than they were actually treating her. Kendall believes that recognizing and treating trauma, talking openly and responsibly about suicide, and building a community that witnesses the suffering of others can prevent the 800,000 completed suicides globally each year. Kendall now helps others by giving speeches and sharing her experiences with others with ways that they could help and improve. As well as, working to create dialogue about human trafficking through her colorful art. The main thing that I learned from researching Kendall was that we could all help with better recognizing and treating others' trauma and that you are not alone in what you're going through and there will always be someone out there to listen to your voice.

3 sources:
1. https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/kendall-alaimo-2021-world-day-trafficking-persons/
2. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/kendall-alaimo.html
3.
https://www.kendallalaimo.com/talk

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Kendall Alaimo - Activist, Artist, Educator, and Survivor - is honored by NCOSE on UN World Day Against Trafficking In Persons.
Every year, the United Nations works to highlight one of the most egregious forms of violence and abuse against people across the world with the World Day Against Trafficking In Persons on July 30. For 2021, the theme is centered on the voices of those most affected by this crime-the survivors themselves-and the UN will honor these voices by putting victims of human trafficking at the center of their campaign, this year entitled "Victims' Voices Lead the Way":

One of the survivors being featured by the United Nations in 2021 is Kendall Alaimo: an incredible activist fighting for better clinical education and research for those affected by the crime of human trafficking, a creative and professionally-trained artist working to create dialogue about human trafficking through her colorful art, and a survivor of child sex trafficking who is using her voice to advocate for change.

Kendall has been involved in activism for years, working to prevent sex crimes against children and training others in trauma, complex PTSD, resiliency, and more. In 2021, she was appointed a Member of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) which assists the work of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in combating trafficking in persons.

Recently, she has noticed more than ever the need for educational opportunities for survivors of trafficking, something that is often out of reach for those living through experiences that leave them without proper funding or resources. She shares her own testimony of such experiences with being unable to accept university offers with the UN. Her remarks can be read in full here.

It was these experiences and learning from other survivors across the world facing the same barriers that led Kendall to found the groundbreaking University Alliance on Human Trafficking in celebration of the UN's World Day Against Trafficking this year.

The University Alliance on Human Trafficking is an alliance of leaders and institutions committed to eradicating modern day slavery by creating pathways for survivors to obtain education and financial freedom. The University Alliance on Human Trafficking seeks to bring change and open dialogue with universities around the world to embrace policies and initiatives that seek to give survivors seats at the table - opportunities to thrive, learn, and go out into the world as doctors, lawyers, educators, clinicians, policy makers, and more. Additionally, it will be developing programming to work with corporations to encourage creation of trauma informed career opportunities.

As Kendall shares in her story:

"As survivors we have a vital role to play in the anti-human trafficking community. Our narratives must not merely be inspiring but the lessons that lay within them must be used to create lasting solutions.

Just like I want to become a clinician, other survivors want to fix and fill the gaps in after care and get justice not just for the crimes that were perpetrated against them but also justice for their peers.

These people are the most resilient individuals I have ever encountered. They have overcome slavery, gone through years of clinical care, saved their own lives and now the only thing they desire is to selflessly serve their community by going to school and obtaining professions to help remedy these human rights violations."

As part of this initiative and in celebration of July 30, Kendall shipped red seats across the globe to universities to raise awareness about the importance of access to education for this population and to launch The University Alliance on Human Trafficking. To Kendall these red seats symbolize not just opportunity, having a seat at the table, and freedom but the anti-trafficking movement overall.

Kendall also shares her artistic talents in many inspiring ways, using her unique, colorful aesthetics to depict darker themes of child trafficking and other important subjects.

For 2021, she made a painting in honor of World Day Against Trafficking titled "Voices Lead the Way" which is featured by the United Nations here. The work "highlights this year's theme, "Victims' Voices Lead the Way." The lips and megaphones symbolize survivor voices. Other elements highlight the importance of housing, education, justice, economic equity, community and stopping the demand.

Copyright Kendall Alaimo 2021

Right now, Kendall is also lending her talents to a large custom painting that will be proudly displayed at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation's headquarters in Washington, DC.

We want to thank the United Nations for their commitment to honoring survivor voices with this year's World Day Against Trafficking theme, and especially thank Kendall Alaimo for her tireless contributions to the movement in creative, innovative, and inspiring ways.

Thank you, Kendall, for standing up for better educational and clinical opportunities for survivors everywhere, for lending your artistic talents to beautifying and educating the world, and for using your voice to advocate for a world free from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Read Kendall Alaimo's full bio here: "Kendall Alaimo is an international activist, a clinical educator, a professionally trained artist, and a survivor of child trafficking and re-exploitation. In celebration of World Day against Trafficking July 30th, 2021, Kendall founded The University Alliance on Human Trafficking. She is a Member of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) which assists the work of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in combating trafficking in persons."

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Kendall Alaimo - Activist, Artist, Educator, and Survivor - is honored by NCOSE on UN World Day Against Trafficking In Persons. Every year, the United Nations works to highlight one of the most egregious forms of violence and abuse against people across the world with the World Day Against Trafficking In Persons on July 30.

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Sari Kaufman was 15 years old and a student at Stone man Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. She survived a school shooting. On the day 17 people were killed by a gunman on February 14, 2018. Sari explains that she has never been to more funerals in her life, especially at the young age of 15. A member of the school debate team, Kaufman had debated about gun laws just a few months earlier. To deal with the traumatic event, she wrote “an emotional but informational letter to legislative representatives.” The letter went viral on social media, but got little response from legislators. She became a lead organizer of the March for Our Lives, which also included a voter registration drive.

Sources: 1. https://sanford.duke.edu/story/parkland-survivor-tells-how-she-became-activist/

2. https://isps.yale.edu/team/sari-kaufman

3. https://www.chicagotribune.com/96050923-132.html

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"One thousand people were registered in four hours," she said.

To keep the momentum going, she became involved in Empower the People, created by Stoneman Douglas students to increase engagement, activism and voting. The group talks to high school seniors across Florida about voting.

It is not easy to "turn apathy into action," she said. One strategy is "to make voting cool, so it becomes the social norm."

Duke alumna shares experience of learning her first vote didn't count

Symonne Singleton described her first time voting as "a coming of age experience that I didn't expect." In 2014, she was a Duke student and excited to vote in her first election. It was when the NC voter ID laws were in effect. She had registered on campus, and went to the polling place on Election Day.

"I waited for an hour, but I wasn't worried, I had my ID. The poll voter said I wasn't registered," she said. She was offered a provisional ballot, filled it out, and "got my 'I Voted' sticker."

"I basked in the glory of my first vote," she said.

A few weeks later, she found out that her vote didn't count, because the law requiring voter ID also made provisional ballots illegal.

"I was one of 8,000 people who voted provisionally," she said, and of those, 40 percent were black.

The experience made her realize, "I would have to fight for basic rights. If we don't fight, it will grow and take over," she said.

Singleton is now a software engineer at Code for America, working on the team that develops tools to allow people with convictions to navigate the legal process of clearing their records. In California, laws legalizing marijuana use also allow more than 750,000 people with convictions for using to have their recorded cleared. This gives them better access to employment, education and housing.

"Voters did that. Voters and civic engagement made that happen," she said.

Anita Earls offers insight on voting rights in NC

Anita Earls talked about how the NC legislature brought the voter ID bill to the floor the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act, the same bill that caused Singleton's vote to be thrown out. The law also ended same-day registration, disallowed student IDs for identification, and ended pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds.

"Of all the groups -- women, African-Americans -- students are the ones that most recently got the right to vote," she said, in the early 1970s.

Earls was part of the lawsuit brought against the legislation, which the 4th Circuit Court ruled targeted African-Americans for disenfranchisement with "almost surgical precision." The state was in the processing of appealing the decision, until the voters elected a Democratic governor and attorney general. They dropped the appeal, and the law is no longer effect.

She pointed out the importance of early voting as a defense against some types of voter suppression tactics, because if there is a problem, early voting gives citizens time to correct and still vote.

"We can't foresee all the ways voting rights might be threatened. We have to be vigilant," she said.

During the discussion of how to encourage students to vote, Singleton said, "You have to meet people where they are. Maybe they're frustrated, or have voted and things haven't gone their way."

Several students from the group Pitt County Youth for Justice and Change, from Greenville, N.C. attended the event. They were inspired to start the organization by the activism of the students from Stoneman Douglas. Ava and Ana Rodriguez-Cue are sisters and members, but not yet old enough to vote.

"Our most successful event was a cook-out where local candidates came and we registered people to vote," said Ana Rodriguez-Cue.

"I learned lots of new angles," said Ava about the panel.

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Parkland Survivor Tells How She Became an Activist

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"One thousand people were registered in four hours," she said. To keep the momentum going, she became involved in Empower the People, created by Stoneman Douglas students to increase engagement, activism and voting. The group talks to high school seniors across Florida about voting. It is not easy to "turn apathy into action," she said.

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David Miles Hogg, Born april 12, 2000, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas high school shooting. David recovered from the shooting and right away wanted to make a difference. He first wanted to start by raising awaraness for people that have also been through the same and similar things. He led protests about School shootings and also led marches regarding school shootings. In one of the articles it says, "we're fortunate to have somebody so young, so poised and someone who knew how to take a tragedy and turn it into action". This is very powerful because most people young and old go through something hard to go through and let it effect them their whole life and they become a victim to it when they should use it to their advantage to become stronger as a person and also use it for others benefits.
3 Sources:
1. wikipedia (what first popped up when I put his name)
2. ABC Boston
3. Udel.edu

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"Eight different injuries bringing two surgeries and 13 days in the hospital"(google). This isn't the worst thing Tyler Smith had to deal with after surviving getting totaled by a semil truck while his hockey team of 29 are held inside. Mental health is a slightly debatable topic, is it that important? Do i really need to worry about it? According to Tyler Smith and his experiences of constantly battling his mental health yes it is, It's "as important as your physical health". Tyler has come up with many phrases/quotes one of the most popular ones being, "I'ts okay to not be okay". He has said these phrases while giving speeches around the world about mental health also writing an article on the platform "Unsinkable". He hopes to make a difference he says," I can hopefully make a difference for other people and really offer that sense of hope and shape that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!". He is now currently working to reduce the rate of male suicide by 25% by 2030.

Source 1: https://www.dosomething.org/us/articles/tyler-smith-mental-health
Source 2:https://sharpmagazine.com/2020/10/19/movember-stories-tyler-smith/
Source 3: https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/humboldt-broncos-crash-survivor-tyler-smith-opens-up-on-mental-health

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Humboldt Broncos Crash Survivor Tyler Smith Opens Up About His Mental Health

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How the former junior hockey player learned that mental health is just as important as physical health.

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Nadia Murad was born march 10th she was born in in Kocho  Iraq she was a student living in koho when in Sin jar when Islamic state fighters rounded up yazidi community in the village killing 600 people including 6 of Nadia's brothers and step brothers and the Islamic state fighters took the woman and younger girls into slavery.she was later on raped and sexually assaulted she was also burnt with cigarettes when she tried to make her escape the Islamic state  fighters caught her and held Nadia in a shipping container. The main idea is to be aware of human trafficking and refugees.
3 sources
1. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2018/murad/facts
2.
https://www.nadiasinitiative.org/nadia-
murad
3.
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/research-insights/policy-topics/human-rights/isis-trafficking-survivor-nadia-murad-basee

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Nadia Murad
The Nobel Peace Prize 2018

Born: 1993, Kojo, Iraq

Prize motivation: "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict."

Prize share: 1/2

Life

Nadia Murad was born into a farming family in Kojo, Iraq. She belongs to the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority. When she was 19 years old, the Islamic State attacked her village and killed 600 Yazidi men, including several of her family members. Murad and other young women were taken prisoner and subjected to beatings and rape. She managed to escape, however, and make her way to a refugee camp. There she was offered the opportunity to move to Germany, where she now lives.

Work

Sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict constitutes both a war crime and a threat to peace and security. Nadia Murad is a member of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq, and in 2014 the Islamic State (IS) launched a brutal attack on her home village. Several hundred people were massacred, and girls and young women were abducted and held as sex slaves. While a captive of the IS, Nadia Murad was repeatedly subjected to rape and other abuses. After three months she managed to flee. She now works to help women and children who are victims of abuse and human trafficking.

To cite this section
MLA style: Nadia Murad - Facts - 2018. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Wed. 14 Oct 2020. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2018/murad/facts/>

Back to top

Twelve laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from the formation of black holes and genetic scissors to efforts to combat hunger and develop new auction formats.

See them all presented here.

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Nadia Murad The Nobel Peace Prize 2018 Born: 1993, Kojo, Iraq Prize motivation: "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict." Prize share: 1/2 Nadia Murad was born into a farming family in Kojo, Iraq. She belongs to the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority.

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Ashley Easter was born and raised in and independent christian Fundamental church. From a very young age Ashley was taught that men were superior to women, and she was only their to make children and be submissive. When she was 22 she met a man he unknowingly enlightened her on women and men being equal. She did more research and found he was right she was baffled and didn't know what to think weeks had gone by and she decided to change her ideology and began to be rebellious. In her later years after she had left the church she started  an event in 2016 called the 'Courage Conference'   which is an event which had the purpose of  gaining victim advocates. I  learned that many people today could be in a cult that they are not aware of. I also learned how easy it is to be manipulated and brainwashed.

Sources:

1) https://www.ashleyeaster.com/

2)https://eewc.com

3)https://redletterchristians.org

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When I was 21 years old, a guy asked me a question. "Do you really believe God would want women to have to submit to men?"

I grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church in the south. Both of my grandfathers were pastors in this strict denomination. Not only that, I was homeschooled.

And, while homeschooling can be a good choice for some students in my experience it was a tool used to socially isolate me from much of the outside world and to indoctrinate me with authoritarian, patriarchal ideals.

My family and church practice something called patriarchy, the belief that men should be in power and control over women in the home, church, and in some cases society too. From the time I was a young child,

I was raised to be a "submissive" girl...

to obsess over my clothing (to make sure I wasn't causing men to lust), and to prepare to become a wife and mother of as many babies as possible.

The idea was the MANY children would be shot out into the world like arrows from a quiver sinking into different sectors of society like the home, church, government, media, and schools to dominate the world with our oppressive religious perspective.

No kidding... my dad sold homemade arrows with children's names engraved on it illustrating this point and I actually sat through a DVD lecture with other homeschool families during my teen years about "the 200 year plan"! It was a lecture mapping it all out, how we were gonna dominate the world with our patriarchal message through overpopulation. My role as a young woman was to set aside my leadership dreams, to get married, have babies and populate the planet.
So yeah, you could say I was raised in a cult.
Then something happened and EVERYTHING changed!

Needless to say in this high control community I faced many types of abuse by multiple abusers including an abusive engagement. And, I had resigned myself to submit to this way of life. I even created a blog when I was 17 called "Stay-At-Home Daughter" teaching thousands of women about adherence to the patriarchy.

Since I was a young child I had dealt with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts but after the engagement breakup I spiraled down even further.

I didn't miss the relationship but the PTSD from what I had experienced was setting in and I was having regular panic attacks, nightmares, and flashbacks to the abuse. To be honest I really didn't know how I could keep on living. Anxiety medications and therapy helped some but I was still living in that toxic community and I was being pressured to keep quiet about what had really happened.

It was about a year after my abusive engagement had ended and I was just starting to pull out of the darkest depression of my life. When one day a girl who briefly visited my church invited me to come to the coffee shop where she worked. When I arrived she introduced me to a man who loved talking religion as much as I did. Our conversation started out easy but he quickly learned my beliefs on women and submission to the patriarchy. He disagreed and believed women should have equal opportunity and should be self-controlled, not controlled by men. My 21-year-old brain started spinning.

What was this feminist nonsense?! Hadn't he read the bible?

Despite my initial resistance we did eventually begin to have a discussion and to my surprise, he actually had some good points. What's more, I didn't have answers to all of the questions he asked me despite my strong background in patriarchal bible study.

I was frustrated with myself for not having thought of those questions before and for not having an answer for him. I went home and for days began to study.

I'm going to be completely honest with you: my intention of studying was to find the right answers so I could come back to our next debate and completely blow him out of the water! I knew I was right, that he was wrong and that I should be the one to set him straight.

But to my surprise as I dug into deep study the equality arguments WERE logically answering my questions better than what I had been taught by my community... they were even compatible with my faith. This scared the hell out of me! I did not want to consider that I could have been wrong about what I had always believed. But I couldn't turn my eyes away from the truth. I knew this could change my life forever!

And it did. When I realized women were created equal and as an adult, I should be able to make my own choices, I started looking into the other things I had been taught and finding that so much of what I believed was a lie! I started studying and was finally able to identify many of the bad things that had been done to me as abuse, not just the engagement. My whole belief system taught to me by the cult fell apart.

Then things got REAL wild. I bought my own car, I started learning to swing dance, going to the movie theater, and listening to Taylor Swift! LOL That was my "rebellion" stage because all of those things had been banned.

But it wasn't until I was 22 years old when I married my now husband Will Easter and that physically removed me from the cult. He's the man of my dreams, he is pro-equality for women and he gave me a safe place to start my life over.

I'm a total feminist now but I'm not ashamed to say that he rescued me!

With the cult life over I began diving deep into my own healing with therapy, coaching, and doctor appointments. I closed down my old blog, apologized for what I used to teach and began writing about my experiences of freedom and healing from abuse.

To my surprise, hundreds of people started reaching out to me telling me that they had also experienced abuse and that church leaders or family had responded badly and in some cases even tried to cover it up! They felt so alone and isolated but I knew they were NOT alone because so many were reaching out to me telling such similar stories.

This is when I knew I needed to reclaim the power that had been stolen from me. I needed to become the leader I always knew I was deep in my soul.

I started working towards ending abuse and empowering survivors!

In 2016 The Courage Conference was born, an event to equip victim advocates and empower survivors of abuse through speakers who were trained victims advocates, mental health professionals, and survivors sharing their journeys of triumph.

Now I'm a trained abuse victim advocate, an author, a founder of an internationally attended abuse survivor conference The Courage Conference, CEO of the non-profit Courage 365, a television producer, an ordained reverend, an international speaker, an empowerment coach, spokesperson for an internationally reported-on protest, the For Such A Time As This Rally, and I serve as Vice President for the largest and oldest clergy sexual abuse victim advocacy organization, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

But most of all, I'm living my life with confidence and courage. I'm living my dream of empowering others. I'm embracing my fulfilling loving relationship with Will Easter and constantly up-leveling every area of my life!

I have a life wilder than my wildest dreams and I believe I was put here on this planet to help you achieve your freedom dreams too!

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From Cult Survivor to Global Activist | Ashley Easter

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When I was 21 years old, a guy asked me a question. "Do you really believe God would want women to have to submit to men?" I grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church in the south. Both of my grandfathers were pastors in this strict denomination.

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Tyler Smith whom survived a horrible bus accident on April 6th 2018 that sadly killed 16 of his teammates. Luckily 12 of his teammates survived. Tyler was born in Leduc Alberta Canada. Sports were a huge part of Tyler’s life and as he states, “They shaped me into the person he is today.“ He was on his way to a semi final hockey game when a semi truck hit his bus. He was severely injured and had about 9 body injuries including a broken collar bone, broken shoulder blade, nerve damage down his left arm, and more. Tyler was doing everything in his power to get better physically including going from doctors appointment to doctors appointment, taking medication, and etc… He then realized that not only did he need to get better physically but mentally as well. With time he realized how important mental health is and how important it is to put yourself first before others. Tyler wrote an article “It’s ok to not be ok” that was published on September 15 2019 to share his experience and help others with expressing their mental health issues. A message he left for others was : “You have to be willing to open up when you aren’t doing so hot. Life is very short take advantage of the time you have and be grateful for the people around you.” What I learned from Tyler was that mental health is as important as physical health.

Sources:

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/humboldt-broncos-crash-survivor-tyler-smith-opens-up-on-mental-health/wcm/75feeb12-8bb7-44d9-8f89-ddc4d5a25aec/amp/

https://www.dosomething.org/us/articles/tyler-smith-mental-health

https://weareunsinkable.com/its-okay-to-not-be-okay/

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A year and a half after the worst day of his life, Leduc's Tyler Smith walks the halls of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, where he's a student in the school's radio and television program.

If you pass by him as he's walking between classes, there's a good chance you won't recognize Smith as one member of the Humboldt Broncos, involved in the April 6, 2018 collision that killed 16 members of the junior hockey team. Often, the only indication of Smith's involvement in the crash is a set of "Humboldt Strong" bracelets on his right arm.

But even though his experience isn't always outwardly visible, Smith doesn't think the pain of that day will ever dissipate.

"I think about it a ton, even on the road, seeing buses or semi-trucks," said Smith, now 21. "I understand that I'm never going to get away from it and I don't want to get away from it, because I always want to think about everybody on that bus and the times we had.

"But it's definitely something that is always in the front of my mind, not even in the back of my mind."

Smith sustained serious injuries in the crash, requiring multiple surgeries and a nearly two-week hospital stay. But his physical healing process is still ongoing, with nerve damage to his left hand and wrist that Smith expects will be a permanent part of his life.

In addition, Smith suffered broken bones and a punctured lung, plus a stroke that he still takes Aspirin daily to cope with.

Still, he was able to return to the game of hockey, first coaching with a junior team in Leduc before eventually returning to the Humboldt Broncos in November 2018. He played 10 games with the team before stepping away in order to prioritize his own healing.

"It was kinda tough for me to grasp and understand, but right after I made the decision to leave Humboldt is when I really put a focus on my mental health and actually allowed myself to heal and do the things I needed to do," Smith said. "It was just not where I needed to be for my healing process."

Only three other survivors of the crash returned to the Humboldt Broncos last season. While Smith is glad he seized that opportunity, he said he needed to be at home in order to heal mentally.

There's a number of things Smith says have helped him in his mental health recovery process. Though he's still busy in school and with hockey - he currently plays for the Leduc Riggers - he's found time to write and to open up to those closest to him.

"Every once in a while, a simple journal entry I find is beneficial. And that comes with the whole mental health process. I've learned that writing is always therapeutic, no matter what it's about," he said. "It's me understanding that my mental health has to come first.

"It's a day-by-day process. You have to take it everyday. You can't rush the healing, is the big thing I've learned."

For Movember, an annual charity drive for men's health, Smith is growing a 'stache and raising money. So far, he's raised over $2,500, and he hopes to double that number before the end of the month.

"Obviously there's the age-old tale that men aren't always going to open up as easily as women," he said. "At the end of the day, if I can raise money for men's mental health, that's all I can ask for."

Youth hockey culture is changing too, says Smith. More players are recognizing their mental health needs and letting each other know that they're always there to talk or listen to any problems.

For after he's done school, Smith is considering making a career of public speaking, a way to continue to share his story and recovery.

"I'd love to try to inspire and give people as much hope as I can," he said.

jherring@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jasonfherring

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'Always in the front of my mind': Humboldt Broncos crash survivor opens up on mental health

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A year and a half after the worst day of his life, Leduc's Tyler Smith walks the halls of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, where he's a student in the school's radio and television program.

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summary
Leymah gbowee much like Ishmael beah was a child soldier seeing and experiencing unimaginable trauma. Leymah escaped being a child soldier and trys her best to help those in it escape and to avoid war. Leymah went on to win the nobel peace prize one of the most respected awards ever.  she also helped end all the continues fighting and helped stop the second Liberian civil war.
she was born in somewhere in central Liberia and grew up in Monrovia and had to live her childhood through the first Liberian civil war.

sources
1

Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate

2 Leymah Gbowee – Biographical - NobelPrize.org

3Leymah Gbowee - Wikipedia

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David Hogg born April 12, 2000 was a regular high school student when on Febuary 14, 2018 an expelled student by the name of Nikolas Cruz walked into his school and opened fire murdering 17 of his classmates. Today Hogg is a gun rights activist who has fought for more laws preventing guns from getting into the hands of lunatics. Hogg has written a book about the shooting and how we should prevent guns from being as easily obtained.
Hogg has protested against guns many time and has even lead the movement march for our lives. Hogg believes the enemies aren't the people who want guns, but the laws themselves that enable crazy people to act on their impulses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hogg

https://www.arcadia.edu/story/qa-david-hogg

https://time.com/6186538/david-hogg-guns-march-for-our-lives/

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This article is about the American gun control activist. For other people with the same name, see David Hogg (disambiguation).

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Emma Gonzalez,born November 11,1999 in Florida,was a victim in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.This shooting was named the deadliest high school shooting in U.S history,which killed 17 people.Emma spreads word about "gun control".They have been on CNN,NRA,Glamour Magazine,The Washington Post,NBC New's Time Magazine,MSNBC,and the "March for our lives".At the time of the shooting they were in the auditorium with dozens of other students when the alarm went off,they tried to exit but they were told to take cover.They were in there for 2 hours until police lead them out.Some of the speeches she has done are,"Parkland Students Emma  Gonzalez opens up about her fight for Gun Control."-Harpers Bazar,Febuary 26,2018."Emma Gonzalez on why this generation needs gun control."Teen Vouge,March 23,2018.Emma has given many speeches and spoke out about what happened that day and spreads word about how we as a generation need better gun control.Even after the shooting she felt the need and courage to speak out on this issue.As said by them they don't want this traumatic event happening to many others.To live with what needs to change.https://variety.com
/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Gonz%C3%A1lezhttps:/
/awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/

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Entertainment news, film reviews, awards, film festivals, box office, entertainment industry conferences

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Befeqadu Hailu, an Ethiopian blogger arrested for speaking out against his oppressive government. Born on February 14, 1980 in Addis Ababa the largest city in Ethiopia. He started his blog in 2011 not meaning to become an activist, just to share his thoughts about human rights and democracy in Ethiopia. Over time he slowly started talking about the oppression and mismanagement of the Ethiopian government which promptly got his blog banned. This made him fight even harder against the government by getting more involved with the other activists. After getting more and more involved he was eventually jailed for 18 months. Befeqadu now fights for his countries future hoping that someday they can have true democracy and equality.

1.https://freedomhouse.org/article/blogger-civil-society-leader-ethiopias-befekadu-hailu

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befeqadu_Hailu

3.https://www.helpsetthemfree.org/befikadu-hailu-2/

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From Blogger to Civil Society Leader: Ethiopia's Befekadu Hailu

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In a recent conversation with Freedom House, Befekadu Hailu outlined what he believes are the three biggest threats to Ethiopia's burgeoning democracy.

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Polline Akello grew up in Uganda until she was abducted right out of her garden at the age of 12 by Joseph Kony's Lord Resistance Army, Polline was then raped and throw in jail, got pregnant at the age of 15 while in jail she also married one of the young commanders of the LRA she was married at the age of 15 to a 23 year old man after 7 years in jail Polline managed to escape by telling the LRA that she would come back when she was healthy in 2009 Polline managed to find her family witch she thought was all dead. now Polline travels the world telling her story to high schools and helps other child soldiers to get away from the abuse she went through. Polline also found out the names of all the people that raped her and put the ones that were still alive in jail.

Source#1 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/oct/09/polline-akello-joseph-kony-lords-resistance-army-uganda

Source #2
https://thisisafrica.me/africans-rising/polline-akello-from-child-soldier-to-global-advocate/

Source#3
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-saw-young-girls-give-birth-running-with-guns-going-off-83xgx8qznhh

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Polline Akello considers herself one of the lucky ones. When she was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in 2002, she was "married" to one of the young commanders who didn't beat her.

"He was 23, I was 15," she recalls. "I used to see him and used to say, 'I wish I could be with this one', because I could see he was not as ruthless [as some of the others]. So when I was given to him, I counted myself among the lucky ones. I could see other girls being given to men of 50.

"If I did something wrong, he would sit me down and talk to me. Some men would cane you, or fight. I didn't go through that."

Akello was also lucky, she says, that the LRA leader Joseph Kony took a shine to her when she was abducted at the age of 12. Kony ordered that she be cared for during her first three years in captivity, until she was old enough to be given away. Other girls were raped at 10.

"Kony commanded someone to look after me. I don't know why, I was just lucky."

She even sees the good that came out of losing a child. It prompted her escape.

"When I reflect back I say, 'God, thank you. Maybe this was how you wanted me to live my life'. Maybe through my experiences I would be [able to] give help or hope. Maybe if I had stayed at home I might have died."

Akello is in London this week, talking to high school students about the plight of other children affected by war. On Friday, she is sharing her story at the Women in the World summit; next week, she is off to Geneva to meet UN officials to discuss next year's world humanitarian summit. All while studying for a degree in development studies in Kampala. Akello, who is in her second year, has plans to become a human rights lawyer.

Honorary Briton ... Polline Akello may be Ugandan, but she is fast becoming a seasoned visitor to London. Photograph: Courtesy of War Child

She is a remarkable young woman. Our conversation moves from discussing the horrors perpetrated by the LRA to talking about the British weather and what's good to eat from hotel room service. She seems excited to be in London again; this is her third visit. Last year, she spoke at the Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict summit in London.

Her ordeal began when a group of men turned up at her home in Pader, in northern Uganda. The men wore civilian clothes, so she didn't realise they were from the LRA, the militia that had been terrorising the north of the country since the 1980s under the guise of wanting to overthrow the government.

The soldiers had been asked to abduct a beautiful girl. Akello was the only one taken that day.

She spent the next six years moving with LRA troops each day, cooking and cleaning, keeping house for her commander husband.

Then, in 2008, when the LRA had decamped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she became seriously ill, the result of complications in childbirth. Her husband appealed to Kony to let her go for treatment with the officials who were currently mediating a peace deal between the LRA and the Ugandan government. It was Kony's second in command, Vincent Otti, who finally persuaded the leader to release her, with the promise she would return.

When my mother saw me she went mad, running around and crying tears of joy

Polline Akello

Akello was taken to a hospital in Nairobi. Kony called regularly asking when she was coming back. She would tell him she would come back when she was better. She was finally free of the LRA. Eventually, Akello was taken back to Uganda; in 2009 she was reunited with her family, who thought she was dead.

"It was amazing. After all those years. And my mother thought I was not living any more. Nobody knew I was still alive. They were being told a lot of information. 'Polline is not there, her body is in the barracks'. My parents moved from barrack to barrack looking for my body.

"When my mother saw me she went mad, running around and crying tears of joy."

She was spotted by Christian Counselling Fellowship, a partner organisation of the NGO War Child, which supports children who have experienced conflict. CCF put her through school and now pays her university fees. The only support she received from the Uganda government was a mattress and blanket when she first arrived back in the country. And amnesty from prosecution for her association with the LRA.

Akello doesn't deny the pain of what she went through, particularly when handed over to the commander - "It was not my choice," she reflects - but would rather look ahead than dwell on the past. Her Christian faith has helped, she says.

The only formal counselling Akello has had came in the form of sessions she was required to undertake to become a counsellor herself at university.

She wants to become a lawyer so that she can support others who have been abused. "I feel like people's rights need to be respected. When I was taken away I was denied all form of rights to anything. I don't want to see it happen to anybody. If I do human rights law, I feel I will be able to help other people whose rights are denied, especially women. People look at them as if they don't have rights," she says. "These men who abuse girls should be brought to justice so they account for their crimes."

Does that include her abductor and the LRA commander to whom she was married? Scores of fighters have returned to their homes without punishment and just five LRA commanders have been indicted by the international criminal court. Three are thought to have died, one is in custody and Kony is still at large.

Akello says she's forgiven her abductor and husband. "The guy who abducted me personally, I was with him in the bush. He was a young boy. He was not given any girl to be with him and I did not see him doing anything. If I had seen him doing anything I think he should be punished."

She adds: "Commanders should be punished, especially those who abused the girls. Some of those commanders were also taken by force but still they have to account for their crimes. They caused a lot of pain. Many girls died in the bush."

While training to become a counsellor at university, Akello had to undergo a number of tests to assess whether her time in the bush had affected her behaviour. After calculating her test scores, the university counsellor pronounced her an amazing woman. It's hard to disagree.

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Polline Akello: 'Joseph Kony commanded someone to look after me ... I was lucky' | Liz Ford

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Polline Akello considers herself one of the lucky ones. When she was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in 2002, she was "married" to one of the young commanders who didn't beat her. "He was 23, I was 15," she recalls.

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Crystal Anthony is now 54 years old. She was abused by her father. But now crystal has managed to change all that truma to something better, into a career that to help victims like her. Crystal anthony's goal is to  help others who don't have a voice. She wanted to start her own nonprofit she, thought about this on her way from mexico because she encounter girls be sold for sex. At the end she decided to become a social worker. Crystal anthony said "When I read the description of what a social worker is, I realized that was what I wanted to be,” she said. “Social workers aren’t just people who go into people’s homes. We do different types of social work … and make real change in people’s lives.”(shin 6). This quote taught me more about what she feels. It made me see activism in a different way. I learned that Social workers like crystal anthony should be brought more respect for what they do. Some with a harsh back round and now doing everything they can to make sure other people get what they need or to make sure kids, adults, anyone's voice is heard.
https://news.usc.edu/83100/alumna-turns-childhood-trauma-into-activism/

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A trip to Mexico City changed the life of social worker Crystal Anthony. (Photo/Joyful Steps)

Crystal Anthony MSW '12 grew up under the hands of an abusive father. She and her mother were the frequent targets of his displaced anger.

"I can remember a vivid image of [my biological father] putting a gun to my mom's head and asking me, 'Who do you love more?'" she recalled. "I was only 4 or 5, but I knew what I needed to say for him to stop."

The beatings were severe and the fear palpable, but she still considers herself one of the lucky ones. She survived and has learned to channel those memories of violence into a career helping other victims.

"My biological father was a bad person, and he went to prison for doing bad things," she said. "I wish that these things never happened to me, but it's also given me empathy and courage to stand for others ... [These experiences] helped me discover that I wanted to help people who often don't have a voice."

Finding her calling

Anthony initially wanted to go into law and become a voice for the disenfranchised. Then she thought about starting her own nonprofit. This all changed on a mission trip to Mexico City when she witnessed a line of customers waiting to pick up girls being sold for sex. She resolved to become an activist in a different way - as a social worker.

We do different types of social work ... and make real change in people's lives.

Crystal Anthony

"When I read the description of what a social worker is, I realized that was what I wanted to be," she said. "Social workers aren't just people who go into people's homes. We do different types of social work ... and make real change in people's lives."

She started looking into master's programs in California and eventually joined the second cohort of the Virtual Academic Center at the USC School of Social Work. During her first-year internship for the program, Anthony was placed at North County Lifeline, a service agency in the City of Vista focused on youth and family development.

Three months into the internship, she was hired on to develop an anti-human trafficking program for the agency, and in 2011, Anthony and her colleagues launched Project LIFE (Living in Freedom from Exploitation), an advocacy program that provides trauma-specific and mental health services for past and current victims of human trafficking.

As program coordinator for Project LIFE, Anthony collaborated with community agencies to provide clients with wraparound services, such as intensive care management and long-term counseling. She was also pivotal in establishing partnerships with law enforcement and federal agencies, creating a 24/7 on-call service for emergency cases.

"Crystal brought unwavering passion and energy to the table," said Halima Martelli, Anthony's supervisor at North County Lifeline. "She took the initiative to be trained in trauma-informed practices ... to be able to provide the highest level of evidence-based treatment to her clients. Crystal also worked closely with the FBI and sheriff's department and would accompany them on stings so that she could meet survivors face to face at their most vulnerable to offer hope and provide information about services in the community."

Anthony's efforts to combat human trafficking were recently recognized when the agency received the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award in December. Created in 1990, the annual accolade honors community leaders and organizations that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to combat crime and violence in America.

"Sometimes you do the work without recognition, but when a big federal agency recognizes your work, it's pretty neat," she said. "I [recently] got a rad email from a detective: 'You never got a badge, but you got a badge from us. You were a sister on site.' Being treated with so much respect is a huge deal."

Dreaming bigger

Anthony currently serves as a clinical social worker for Orange County, providing training on human trafficking as well as individual and group prevention and intervention treatment for youth in juvenile detention facilities. She works with at-risk adolescents who have been involved in human trafficking, whether as victims or perpetrators.

I had a moment of clarity [when] I realized that I, too, had been an at-risk youth and didn't even know it.

Crystal Anthony

"The kids that I work with, they don't have a parent who can be a support system for them. I had my mom and an awesome grandma and an incredible stepdad," she said. "I had a moment of clarity [when] I realized that I, too, had been an at-risk youth and didn't even know it."

Aside from her day job, Anthony also conducts expert trainings and speaks at conferences across the country. She hopes that by spreading the word, more people will become educated about human trafficking and be inspired to become part of the solution.

"I had a kid recently who told me, 'I wish I could go home with you,'" she said. "There's not enough housing for the human trafficking world. I want to create a system that makes an impact on the housing situation for these victims."

One day, Anthony plans to become an even stronger support system for victims by tackling the issue on a macro level.

"Maybe later on, I'll run for office of some sort," she said. "I'm looking to change policy."

More stories about: Alumni, Child Welfare, Social Work

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Alumna turns childhood trauma into activism

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Crystal Anthony MSW '12 grew up under the hands of an abusive father. She and her mother were the frequent targets of his displaced anger. "I can remember a vivid image of [my biological father] putting a gun to my mom's head and asking me, 'Who do you love more?'" she recalled.

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Crystal Anthony,born November 20th 1980 raised in San Diego County.Crystal is a Cyclo-Cross Cyclist she represented her nation in the womens elite evenet at 2016 UCI Cylo-Cross world championships.Crystal grew up under the hands of an abusive father.She and her mother were the frequent targets of his displaced anger."I can remeber a vivid image of my father putting a gun to my mom's head and asking me,"who do I love more" she recalled."was only 4 or 5,but I knew what I needed to say for him to stop."The beatings were severe and the fear palpable but she still considers herself one of the lucky ones.She survived and has learned to channel those memories of violence into a career helping other victims."My biological father was a bad person,and he went to prison for doing bad things."She said this trauma gave her empathy and courage to stand for others.Her Father has been incacerated for  most of crystal life."My life,my childhood was anything but perfect.My mom and I are survivors of very dark memories of my childhood."Her mother is her strength and her hero her grandmother and her mother poured love into crytal soul creating the complete feller that us meet today.Anthony initially wanted to go into law and become a voice for the disenfranchised. Then she thought about starting her own nonprofit. This all changed on a mission trip to Mexico City when she witnessed a line of customers waiting to pick up girls being sold for sex.

Sources:

Source 1: https://news.usc.edu/83100/alumna-turns-childhood-trauma-into-activism/

Source 2:
https://www.crystaljanthony.com/

Source 3:
http://sduyager.com/

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A trip to Mexico City changed the life of social worker Crystal Anthony. (Photo/Joyful Steps)

Crystal Anthony MSW '12 grew up under the hands of an abusive father. She and her mother were the frequent targets of his displaced anger.

"I can remember a vivid image of [my biological father] putting a gun to my mom's head and asking me, 'Who do you love more?'" she recalled. "I was only 4 or 5, but I knew what I needed to say for him to stop."

The beatings were severe and the fear palpable, but she still considers herself one of the lucky ones. She survived and has learned to channel those memories of violence into a career helping other victims.

"My biological father was a bad person, and he went to prison for doing bad things," she said. "I wish that these things never happened to me, but it's also given me empathy and courage to stand for others ... [These experiences] helped me discover that I wanted to help people who often don't have a voice."

Finding her calling

Anthony initially wanted to go into law and become a voice for the disenfranchised. Then she thought about starting her own nonprofit. This all changed on a mission trip to Mexico City when she witnessed a line of customers waiting to pick up girls being sold for sex. She resolved to become an activist in a different way - as a social worker.

We do different types of social work ... and make real change in people's lives.

Crystal Anthony

"When I read the description of what a social worker is, I realized that was what I wanted to be," she said. "Social workers aren't just people who go into people's homes. We do different types of social work ... and make real change in people's lives."

She started looking into master's programs in California and eventually joined the second cohort of the Virtual Academic Center at the USC School of Social Work. During her first-year internship for the program, Anthony was placed at North County Lifeline, a service agency in the City of Vista focused on youth and family development.

Three months into the internship, she was hired on to develop an anti-human trafficking program for the agency, and in 2011, Anthony and her colleagues launched Project LIFE (Living in Freedom from Exploitation), an advocacy program that provides trauma-specific and mental health services for past and current victims of human trafficking.

As program coordinator for Project LIFE, Anthony collaborated with community agencies to provide clients with wraparound services, such as intensive care management and long-term counseling. She was also pivotal in establishing partnerships with law enforcement and federal agencies, creating a 24/7 on-call service for emergency cases.

"Crystal brought unwavering passion and energy to the table," said Halima Martelli, Anthony's supervisor at North County Lifeline. "She took the initiative to be trained in trauma-informed practices ... to be able to provide the highest level of evidence-based treatment to her clients. Crystal also worked closely with the FBI and sheriff's department and would accompany them on stings so that she could meet survivors face to face at their most vulnerable to offer hope and provide information about services in the community."

Anthony's efforts to combat human trafficking were recently recognized when the agency received the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award in December. Created in 1990, the annual accolade honors community leaders and organizations that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to combat crime and violence in America.

"Sometimes you do the work without recognition, but when a big federal agency recognizes your work, it's pretty neat," she said. "I [recently] got a rad email from a detective: 'You never got a badge, but you got a badge from us. You were a sister on site.' Being treated with so much respect is a huge deal."

Dreaming bigger

Anthony currently serves as a clinical social worker for Orange County, providing training on human trafficking as well as individual and group prevention and intervention treatment for youth in juvenile detention facilities. She works with at-risk adolescents who have been involved in human trafficking, whether as victims or perpetrators.

I had a moment of clarity [when] I realized that I, too, had been an at-risk youth and didn't even know it.

Crystal Anthony

"The kids that I work with, they don't have a parent who can be a support system for them. I had my mom and an awesome grandma and an incredible stepdad," she said. "I had a moment of clarity [when] I realized that I, too, had been an at-risk youth and didn't even know it."

Aside from her day job, Anthony also conducts expert trainings and speaks at conferences across the country. She hopes that by spreading the word, more people will become educated about human trafficking and be inspired to become part of the solution.

"I had a kid recently who told me, 'I wish I could go home with you,'" she said. "There's not enough housing for the human trafficking world. I want to create a system that makes an impact on the housing situation for these victims."

One day, Anthony plans to become an even stronger support system for victims by tackling the issue on a macro level.

"Maybe later on, I'll run for office of some sort," she said. "I'm looking to change policy."

More stories about: Alumni, Child Welfare, Social Work

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Alumna turns childhood trauma into activism

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Crystal Anthony MSW '12 grew up under the hands of an abusive father. She and her mother were the frequent targets of his displaced anger. "I can remember a vivid image of [my biological father] putting a gun to my mom's head and asking me, 'Who do you love more?'" she recalled.

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Kim Seong-Min was born in 1962, in Changang Province, North Korea. Kim Seong-Min had escaped to china in 1997 by jumping off a moving train transporting him to Pyongyang and he arrived to Seoul, South Korea in 1999. On his second attempt, Kim found salvation in South Korea. He was sentenced to death in 1997. Police found him trying to commit suicide by hanging in the bathroom. Kim Seong-Min fell comatose after attempted suicide on June 24, he was declared brain-dead on June 26. Found unconscious after suicide attempt followed by a fight on Friday with his wife.

Source 1
www.bushcenter.org
Source 2
www.freedomcollection.org

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Sari Kaufman was 15 years old when there was a school shooter that came inside her school."On February 14,2018 17 people died at stone man Douglas high school" Sari Kaufman said.Sari Kaufman went though so much trauma in her life she had to witness parents bury their kids, she had to go to more funerals in one week all because of a school shooting.Sari wanted to make a change she wanted to make sure that kids should be able to go to school without having to worry if they are going to die and to make sure that there wont be another shooting happening at a different school.Sari said " this horrible tragedy should have been prevented by the adults who have been voted into power".In the year of 2018, 71 people were killed of injured
source 1: teenvogue.com

source 2: www.sun-sentinel.com

source 3: https://sanford.duke.edu

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Tran Minh Nhat was born in Vietnam he is a Vietnamese journalist and a human rights activist. Many people didn't like what he was doing especisally law enforcement and the Vietnamese government. On August 27, 2011 he was arressted by the Vietnamese government and charged him with "carrying out activites aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under article 79 of Vietnam's Criminal Code due to his writings in favor of free speech and a pluralist political system in Vietnam. He was later found guilty and was sentenced 4 years in prison follwing with 3 years of probabtion. After Tran Minh was realesed he was greatly harrassed by police constantly, he was accused with communication with a Redemptorist priest and using money to carry out insubordinate activites against the state, strangers broke into his house/property and damage his family's home, and Tran Minh was attacked by police inside and outside his house. He was treated like this for trying to give freedom of speech.

sources:
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-tran-minh-nhat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tran_Minh_Nhat
https://www.englishpen.org/posts/news/vietnam-tran-minh-nhat-faces-ongoing-harassment/

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Front Line Defenders condemns the arrest warrant issued against human rights defender Tran Minh Nhat, which it believes is solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate work for human rights in Vietnam, and calls on the authorities to end all judicial harassment against him.

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Sari Kaufman knows what it is like to deal with the difficult trauma of a school shooting. Going to Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in parkland Florida, Sari had to witness people being brutally killed by a gunman who open fire and killed a majority of her fellow classmates. In the artical Sari Kaufman by the the isps.yale.edu it states, "After experiencing the shooting, Sari became a voter education and gun violence prevention activist." Even years after the shooting she witnessed as a sophmore in high school she is still impacted by it heavily. This is why in the artical Parkland Survivor, Sandy Hook Parent on Texas School Shooting it informs, "Four years later, she says she continues to relive her trauma through the growing number of others like her who are personally affected by gun violence." This is one of the reasons that Sari Kaufman is so passionate about gun violence prevention. Being passionate about gun violence prevention drives Sari to take action about it. An example of this is shown in the artical Sari Kaufman by dillerteenawards.org where it states, "A survivor of the Parkland, FL shooting, Sari knew firsthand the importance of informed political engagement. She co-founded the civic education organization and website MyVote Project to increase voter education and political accountability nationwide." In all, Sari Kaufman continues to push past her trauma by speaking out and helping others who can relate to her.

3 sources:
1. https://isps.yale.edu/team/sari-kaufman
2.https://abcnews.go.com/US/parkland-survivor-sandy-hook-parent-weigh-texas-school/story?id=84972223
3.https://www.dillerteenawards.org/recipient/sari-kaufman/

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Undergraduate Director's Fellows

ISPS Director's Fellow, 2022

Sari Kaufman is a sophomore in Davenport majoring in Political Science. Sari attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, and was a sophomore when the shooting occurred. After experiencing the shooting, Sari became a voter education and gun violence prevention activist. She was one of the lead organizers of the March For Our Lives in Parkland. Sari recently started the Yale chapter of Students Demand Action, which focuses on preventing gun violence in New Haven and across the country. She is also the founder and president of the MyVote Project, a nonpartisan youth-led voter education organization focused on providing information on local, state, and national candidates before voters walk into the voting booth.

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Undergraduate Director's Fellows ISPS Director's Fellow, 2022 Sari Kaufman is a sophomore in Davenport majoring in Political Science. Sari attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, and was a sophomore when the shooting occurred. After experiencing the shooting, Sari became a voter education and gun violence prevention activist.

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David Hogg is an American gun control Activist. He was born in Los Angeles, Ca on April 12, 2000. On February 14, 2018, David Hogg was a senior student attending Stoneman Douglas High School when he heard what sounded like popping noises.  He quickly realized that it was gun shots by a semi-automatic rifle. A 19 year old former student had come to the and killed 17 students and teachers. David Hogg communicated with his sister, Lauren Hogg, via texting. They both safely got out and reunited later that day. David Hogg has now written a book about his trauma named #NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line. He wrote this book with his sister. He was also a leader in the 2018 United States gun violence protests. He was on the Dr. Phil show to discuss the shooting. He has also spoken about his past during speeches and wants guns to be controlled.

Source #1: AMP.theguardian.com
Source #2: WWW.APBspeakers.com
Source #3: m.washingtontimes.com

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lionel- is a central aferican soldier that survived and is helping other people survive the terroriste attack. lionel was 11 yeasrs old and was living in damara, it was 2013 when a group of amarmed people attacked damara. lionels family was gunned down and shortly killed right after. unfortenly lionel was tramatized and scared and didnt kknow what to do so he went to hide , and thouught. Later on he join the group of attackers, he didnt join to kill or any violence, he joined to survive. after they let him go, he went to go live with her aunt, and started thinking on how he could help the people in need. futhermore, lionel started a peace club where he goes and helps people out in war to survive and to teach them about peace.

2 sources
https://www.worldvision.ca/stories/child-protection/child-soldier-lionels-story

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Part 3: Lionel, Central African Republic

Girls and boys deserve to grow up free from abuse and exploitation. But in the world's most dangerous places, childhood is frequently the first casualty. Here is Lionel's story, the third in our 10-part series.

Warning: descriptions of violence experienced by children.

"I didn't want to do it."

Lionel became a soldier at age 11. He did it to stay alive.

The soldiers who gunned down his terrified community members had also targeted Lionel's mom and dad. They tortured them, then killed them.

Lionel managed to run for the bush. War raged all around him. Though thousands of children across the Central African Republic had felt similar panic, growing up amidst violent conflict, it made no difference. Cowering in the trees, Lionel was alone in the world.

He stepped out of the bushes and volunteered himself as a child soldier. "I didn't want to do it," he remembers, "but the opposition had killed my family, and I had to join to protect myself."

Scenes of destruction from conflict in Lionel's home community of Damara. In 2013, armed groups attacked, recruiting children to their forces. Shortly after, World Vision came and began the work of protecting children in the area. Photo: Chelsea Maclachlan
Terror recruitment
It's an effective recruitment strategy. Offer a terrified child the protection he needs to survive. Become that child's lifeline, family, and sole method of survival. Then, he is yours for the commanding.

Lionel was too small to effectively manage a weapon, so the leaders put him in charge of ammunition. He was close at hand during battle. He saw and heard things no child should even imagine.

Eventually, Lionel was released from service. The fighting had eased, and to the militia he was disposable. But his mind was dominated by unthinkable images, and horrible, heart wrenching sounds.

How can a boy filled with nightmares resume childhood? Where and with whom? Who wants a broken, orphaned kid with no way to support himself?
Turning for home
Instinctively, Lionel began walking for home. It turned out to be a good decision. What happened next sounds like the stuff of TV commercials. But for this boy - and for hundreds of other child soldiers nearby - it was real.

World Vision was working in Lionel's community, helping restore children who had served with military groups - some as soldiers, others as labourers or forced brides. The staff offered kindness. Understanding. Reconciliation. And the hope of healing.

But how do you help children like Lionel build peace with soldiers from 'the other side'? With children whose leaders had raped, tortured, even killed their loved ones?

The practice of peace

Lionel was invited to join a Peace Club, where he learned the importance of tolerance, human rights and, most importantly, forgiveness. Staff teams had to be patient and persistent. For many of these children, forgiving their enemies took a year or more. But through talks, music, dance and play, the children grew more at ease with one another.

Lionel, left, with Clara, a friend from Peace Club and Peace Club Monitor Timotee. Photo: Chelsea Maclachlan

They realized they weren't really opponents. They were all victims of war. And they all wanted a peaceful future. World Vision equipped and emboldened the children to be advocates for peace, laying the groundwork for a different tomorrow.

Today, at 17, Lionel is learning carpentry. It's a more productive and hopeful vocation than the last one. And Lionel, an enterprising type, has the vision to become a businessman. It's all possible with peace.

"I finally feel safe and okay," he says. "Peace is very important. When there is no peace, everything breaks down."

Global poverty is in retreat but has become more concentrated in the world's darkest places. Over the next decade, more than 80 per cent of the world's poorest children and families will live in the most dangerous places where lives and futures are threatened by conflict and disaster. Join the movement and take action against injustice. Learn how you can help.

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Girls and boys deserve to grow up free from abuse and exploitation. But in the world's most dangerous places, childhood is frequently the first casualty. Here is Lionel's story, the third in our 10-part series. Warning: descriptions of violence experienced by children. Lionel became a soldier at age 11.

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ALexya Salvador, the first trans women to become a pastor and adopt children in Brazil. 

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Alexya Salvador is a women's, trans, and homosexual rights activist, born November 18th, 1980 in Mairipora Brazil. She was raised Sao Paulo. she started working as a school teacher in 2004, married her husband in 2010 as a gay man, then later came out as trans in 2015. her husbands still stayed ans supported her as much as he could and they are still happily married. That same year she got married she became the vice president of the association of homotransitive effective. Sometime after she became the first female trans pastor and after some time quite. she still highly believes in God and Jesus, however she feels she cannot participate and will not participate in a religion that constantly pushes down those where are seen as 'unnatural' and 'disgusting'. Now she lives as a public speaker and a Homosexual trans rights activist. she believes LGBTQ+ people are highly needed in political stances as too help protect those who cannot protect themselves from the government. Her whole purpose is to up bring the LGBTQ+ and to carve a path for queer youth, as well as try and help normalize it as it is the 21st century. With the support of Brazilian government, they have made it a crime to be homophobic, however when have laws stopped hateful people.

sources:

https://sur.conectas.org/en/alexya-salvador-it-is-against-this-god-who-kills-that-we-are-fighting-and-resisting/

https://www.them.us/story/brazils-first-trans-pastor-alexya-salvador

https://lavenderliescom.wordpress.com/2020/11/28/spotlight-alexya-salvador/

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Dylan Tyler Smith born on May 28,1998 broncos hockey player had a life changing moment on April 6,2018.Smith suffered from a semi truck accident while him and 27 of his team mates where hit by the semi truck while they where all in a bus.He says that moment changed his life although he doesn't remember a thing from that day.From 12 survivors and 16 lost team mates only 3 returned to the team last season.Tyler smith also had nine total body injuries with a broken collarbone,shoulder blade,and his left arm nerve.Now smith has raised over $2,500 so far on a men health charity.

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Lee Hyeonseo was born January 1980

North Korea defector and activist who lives in Seoul. She serceltry fled North Korea when she was 17 across the boader.she went into hiding with her relatives in China before making her way to South Korea, and she spent a decade in hiding and living under false names. Later she goes back to guide her famliy out. Hyeonseo became one of thousands of defectors to try to escape across the border to China – a dangerous journey that risks being sent to one of North Korea’s infamous prison camps or even death.

She hopes “My greatest hope for this is of course, the unification between two countries.

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Ashely easter was born in 1981 in Fairborn Ohio, She advocates abuse victoms after escaping the cult she was born into after twenty-two years. She went through years of therapy and coaching, She teaches other cultists how to adjust in society and live there life. The main thing i learned from researching about Ashley was that there are alot more people recovering from the abuse the cults brought apon them than i also thought its alot easier to be manipulated and controlled than you think.

my sources
https://www.ashleyeaster.com/storyhttps://

natesparks130.com/2016/04/16/1990/

https://eewc.com/an-interview-with-ashley-easter/

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When I was 21 years old, a guy asked me a question. "Do you really believe God would want women to have to submit to men?"

I grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church in the south. Both of my grandfathers were pastors in this strict denomination. Not only that, I was homeschooled.

And, while homeschooling can be a good choice for some students in my experience it was a tool used to socially isolate me from much of the outside world and to indoctrinate me with authoritarian, patriarchal ideals.

My family and church practice something called patriarchy, the belief that men should be in power and control over women in the home, church, and in some cases society too. From the time I was a young child,

I was raised to be a "submissive" girl...

to obsess over my clothing (to make sure I wasn't causing men to lust), and to prepare to become a wife and mother of as many babies as possible.

The idea was the MANY children would be shot out into the world like arrows from a quiver sinking into different sectors of society like the home, church, government, media, and schools to dominate the world with our oppressive religious perspective.

No kidding... my dad sold homemade arrows with children's names engraved on it illustrating this point and I actually sat through a DVD lecture with other homeschool families during my teen years about "the 200 year plan"! It was a lecture mapping it all out, how we were gonna dominate the world with our patriarchal message through overpopulation. My role as a young woman was to set aside my leadership dreams, to get married, have babies and populate the planet.
So yeah, you could say I was raised in a cult.
Then something happened and EVERYTHING changed!

Needless to say in this high control community I faced many types of abuse by multiple abusers including an abusive engagement. And, I had resigned myself to submit to this way of life. I even created a blog when I was 17 called "Stay-At-Home Daughter" teaching thousands of women about adherence to the patriarchy.

Since I was a young child I had dealt with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts but after the engagement breakup I spiraled down even further.

I didn't miss the relationship but the PTSD from what I had experienced was setting in and I was having regular panic attacks, nightmares, and flashbacks to the abuse. To be honest I really didn't know how I could keep on living. Anxiety medications and therapy helped some but I was still living in that toxic community and I was being pressured to keep quiet about what had really happened.

It was about a year after my abusive engagement had ended and I was just starting to pull out of the darkest depression of my life. When one day a girl who briefly visited my church invited me to come to the coffee shop where she worked. When I arrived she introduced me to a man who loved talking religion as much as I did. Our conversation started out easy but he quickly learned my beliefs on women and submission to the patriarchy. He disagreed and believed women should have equal opportunity and should be self-controlled, not controlled by men. My 21-year-old brain started spinning.

What was this feminist nonsense?! Hadn't he read the bible?

Despite my initial resistance we did eventually begin to have a discussion and to my surprise, he actually had some good points. What's more, I didn't have answers to all of the questions he asked me despite my strong background in patriarchal bible study.

I was frustrated with myself for not having thought of those questions before and for not having an answer for him. I went home and for days began to study.

I'm going to be completely honest with you: my intention of studying was to find the right answers so I could come back to our next debate and completely blow him out of the water! I knew I was right, that he was wrong and that I should be the one to set him straight.

But to my surprise as I dug into deep study the equality arguments WERE logically answering my questions better than what I had been taught by my community... they were even compatible with my faith. This scared the hell out of me! I did not want to consider that I could have been wrong about what I had always believed. But I couldn't turn my eyes away from the truth. I knew this could change my life forever!

And it did. When I realized women were created equal and as an adult, I should be able to make my own choices, I started looking into the other things I had been taught and finding that so much of what I believed was a lie! I started studying and was finally able to identify many of the bad things that had been done to me as abuse, not just the engagement. My whole belief system taught to me by the cult fell apart.

Then things got REAL wild. I bought my own car, I started learning to swing dance, going to the movie theater, and listening to Taylor Swift! LOL That was my "rebellion" stage because all of those things had been banned.

But it wasn't until I was 22 years old when I married my now husband Will Easter and that physically removed me from the cult. He's the man of my dreams, he is pro-equality for women and he gave me a safe place to start my life over.

I'm a total feminist now but I'm not ashamed to say that he rescued me!

With the cult life over I began diving deep into my own healing with therapy, coaching, and doctor appointments. I closed down my old blog, apologized for what I used to teach and began writing about my experiences of freedom and healing from abuse.

To my surprise, hundreds of people started reaching out to me telling me that they had also experienced abuse and that church leaders or family had responded badly and in some cases even tried to cover it up! They felt so alone and isolated but I knew they were NOT alone because so many were reaching out to me telling such similar stories.

This is when I knew I needed to reclaim the power that had been stolen from me. I needed to become the leader I always knew I was deep in my soul.

I started working towards ending abuse and empowering survivors!

In 2016 The Courage Conference was born, an event to equip victim advocates and empower survivors of abuse through speakers who were trained victims advocates, mental health professionals, and survivors sharing their journeys of triumph.

Now I'm a trained abuse victim advocate, an author, a founder of an internationally attended abuse survivor conference The Courage Conference, CEO of the non-profit Courage 365, a television producer, an ordained reverend, an international speaker, an empowerment coach, spokesperson for an internationally reported-on protest, the For Such A Time As This Rally, and I serve as Vice President for the largest and oldest clergy sexual abuse victim advocacy organization, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

But most of all, I'm living my life with confidence and courage. I'm living my dream of empowering others. I'm embracing my fulfilling loving relationship with Will Easter and constantly up-leveling every area of my life!

I have a life wilder than my wildest dreams and I believe I was put here on this planet to help you achieve your freedom dreams too!

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From Cult Survivor to Global Activist | Ashley Easter

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When I was 21 years old, a guy asked me a question. "Do you really believe God would want women to have to submit to men?" I grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church in the south. Both of my grandfathers were pastors in this strict denomination.