It would be many more years until that voice would become the strong, confident woman that I have become. Im terribly concerned about that, said OBrien. It wasnt until Erin was 13 and found out the same thing was happening to her little sister (then age 11), that she decided she needed to speak out. But instead of telling everyone to vote against it, she told everyone to vote in support of this bill. There is a misconception about this issue many people think sexual abuse only happens to the poor, to people who come from broken homes, etc. Glamour magazine named Merryn Woman of the Year 2012, and People magazine named her one of fifteen women changing the world and a HEROES Among us in 2013.[9]. The first abuser, our neighbor, is someone I think who did this to any girl he had access to. If you tell anybody, you will destroy our family, she said.. It is my hope hearing my message today youll see the importance of what Im here to talk to you about, said Erin Merryn. Eleven-year-old Erin Merryn's life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. In 2009 Texas passed a similar law but it was only a task force which did not mandate students be taught personal body safety, making Illinois the first state to require personal body safety education by law. In 2008, Erin decided to step up her efforts to protect children nationwide and started writing state legislators to ask them to pass laws requiring schools to better educate children, school employees and parents how to prevent and stop child sexual abuse. She is the force behind passing Erin's Law across America. And it was at her house the very first overnight that I woke up to her uncle who lived in the home sexually abusing me," said Merryn. (Read why most child abuse goes unreported). Erin Merryn, survivor of sexual abuse as a child and the driving force behind Erin's Law, speaks to an auditorium full of students at Metamora Township High School last Monday, March 12. Call it what it is: penis and vagina.. Stolen Innocencewas published soon after. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two daughters. Erins Law has now going international with judge in Kerala India requiring Erins Law in the 2023-2024 school year. She is an activist against child sexual abuse. But nothing prepared her for two traumatizing events that have turned Merryn, now 25, into an activist, determined to prevent the same thing from happening to other children. Well, something shocking happened. COURIER/JOELLYN CURRY Our guest speaker for the Luncheon will now be Erin Merryn, childhood sexual abuse survivor turned author, speaker, child advocate and activist, and the force behind Erin . Erin Merryn's memoir is about how her life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted."I thought when the abuse stopped I could move on with my life. Hes grown into quite the little man and doesnt want me near the bathroom when he showers or gets dressed and I respect that. And a third girl I know was also abused by him. So far, her story has inspired many kids to speak up about abuse, and that has led to more predators put behind bars. Under Erins Law, the New Jersey Commissioner of Education must provide school districts with age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources designed to implement this requirement. How did you find this voice? A judge did sentenced her cousin to probation and counseling. She has made it her mission in life to get this legislation passed in all 50 states. She is the author of Bailey, No Ordinary Cat, Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, and An Unimaginable Act. So, instead of speaking out, the only person she told her thoughts and feelings to was herself in the form of a little pink diary. Here's How We Amplify It | National Children's Alliance", "Erin Merryn Fights for Law to Help Child Sexual Assault Victims", "Erin's Law: When the Abuser Is No Stranger", "State Senate Passes Erin Merryn's Law Aimed at Child Sex Abuse Prevention", "Survivor Recalls Alleged Incest in Book", "Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Gets Law Passed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erin_Merryn&oldid=1132623568, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 January 2023, at 19:15. Forgiveness set me free. Known For. Carrot has 281,000 instagram followers. Read more about Erin Merryn on her Erin's Law Facebook page and her website. Instead of putting their daughters through further emotional trauma of a criminal trial, Erins parents decided not to press charges. CBS News' Reena Ninan visited a public school in Illinois to see how the school teaches kids about safe . Merryn: My resilience took a lot of psychological help growing up as a kid, teen, and young adult. Alaska Dispatch: Do you think most lawmakers meaningfully comprehend the issue of sexual abuse? I was abused. Alaska Dispatch: In your quest to get Erin's Law passed in every state, you must have encountered some surprising remarks. Nightmares. Childhood sexual abuse survivor turned author, speaker, child advocate and activist Erin Merryn is the founder and president of Erins Law. Erin Merryn, A Voice for the Voiceless. (2012) Fox News Self - Author of 'An Unimaginable Act'. Little did I know by moving I was getting that much closer to my next abuser. tax-exempt 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. The voice that was silenced for so long. Merryn didn't tell anyone until she was 13 and she suspected her sister was also being abused. Erin Merryn (born February 2, 1985) is the author of Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, An Unimaginable Act, Bailey No Ordinary Cat, and The Diary of a Cat Named Carrot. Alaska Dispatch: You have since spoken up in a big way. Alaska's version of Erin's Law is currently under consideration by the Alaska State Legislature as House Bill 233. Illinois is the fifth state to pass Erin's Law since she took up the cause. With every passing week, and with every visit, Erin gets closer to her goal. So many children will be protected because of her." Visiting Alaska this week, Erin Merryn is a long way from home, and even farther from the torturous past she endured as a sexually abused child. The abuse continued and Erin struggled with the secret that hung over her, a secret that eventually destroyed a family and took Erin's innocence. (See Gary Glitter's sex scandal.). (2016) Consider This Self - Author and Children's Advocate. How do you identify? 35. No one is allowed in the bathroom with you not even your friend. I pull out my sixth grade DARE card and tell lawmakers I knew the eight ways to say "no" to drugs and have never tried even a cigarette and I am nearly 30 years old. To a child who has been told so many threats to stay silent the idea of being taken to a police station can often scare a child. My parents believed me and my cousin Brian confessed to the police, she said. She now runs Carrot's Instagram and shares pictures of Carrot sharing a similar demeanor of her previously owned cat, Bailey. Instead I am still running from Brian. How and when did you do it first? Almost all states that have passed it are using the program, while some states are deciding how their schools will implement It into the curriculum.. The parents can then share the information that the schools provided with anyone else in their household. Erin decided at a young age to take a stand against evil and expose the silent epidemic of child sexual abuse in the spotlight. Named by PEOPLE Magazine a HEROES Among us and one of fifteen women changing the world. Teaching kids the differences between safe and unsafe touch, safe and unsafe secrets, how to report this to a safe adult and to keep reporting it if your abuse does not end, said Merryn. At the age of 13, Erin finally got the courage to tell her parents after learning her younger sister was being abused by that same cousin. Merryn: I didn't expect a response back from my cousin because my letter was very harsh filled with so much anger and rage. If someone ever does touch you in those areas, you tell immediately., Merryn suggests the books The Swimsuit Lesson and The Right Touch.. She has appeared on Oprah, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, TLC documentary Breaking the Silence, CBS This Morning, Katie Couric, Tamaron Hall, 700 Club, and over 200 local media stations. Thinking she had finally escaped the endless sexual abuse, Merryn, the keynote speaker at the Sept. 26 luncheon, was once again sexually abused by a cousin beginning at the age of 11 at a family home in Lake Geneva. Erin has spoken at over 250 CAC events.In 2008 she began writing legislators to require personal body safety be taught to kids in school. (2013) Jill Burke is a former writer and columnist for Alaska Dispatch News. Here's how to protect your kids from online predators. Meetings between the two families were called to sort out the problem, to no avail. Innocence lost. See her personal website at ErinMerryn.net Sexually abused and raped from age 6-8 by an adult neighbor Erin was threatened to stay silent by her abuser. As the abuse continued, and as she was forced to see her abuser over and over again in social situations, she struggled with . Erin Merryn is a powerful speaker and advocate for countless, faceless children and adults in our country who have similarly suffered sexual abuse. 25 $. Merryn is now taking her fight to the state of Alabama. She was named Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year in 2012 and a People magazine Hero Among Us for her tireless work promoting Erin's Law nationwide with a mission to our keep children safe by educating them about personal body safety. Behind those numbers are the faces of innocent children whose childhoods were shattered by actions of evil and sickness. Erin Merryn (born February 2, 1985) is the author of Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, An Unimaginable Act, Bailey No Ordinary Cat, and The Diary of a Cat Named Carrot. Merryn is a national spokesperson for the National Children's Alliance, becoming the first survivor of child sexual abuse that went through a Children's Advocacy Center to speak on national television about her experience.[1]. For the next hour I relived as much as I was capable of sharing and just kept finding myself focusing on the large mirror having no clue their was a detective on the other side listening to my entire story and am very glad I did not know. Erin's Law was the first law passed in the United States requiring sexual abuse prevention education to be taught to students in school every year, and it was subsequently passed in 38 U.S. states before being signed into federal law. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Erin Merryn, a Chicago-area resident behind an Ohio bill that would require public schools to provide age-appropriate sexual abuse prevention instruction, told a Senate. Erin Merryn (born February 2, 1985) is the author of Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, and An Unimaginable Act. Of course I was asked what I was referring to and I said my cousin Brian has been doing bad things. In her diary Erin Merryn reveals how her life was transformed one night when, as an eleven-year-old, she was sexually abused in her grandparents condo by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. According to Merryn, every school gets the option to pick a Erins Law program, and have an outside agency teach. He got us quiet and continued to get away with it. The center provided me a safe place to connect with people who understood unlike my friends in school who did not understand what I had gone through. Because so often, people that are being abused do not report it until theyre in their 30s, 40s and 50s cause nobody ever gave them the message onhow tospeak up and tell, Merryn said. But only 1 in every 10 sexually abused children ever tell anyone about it. Merryn lay on blankets on the floor next to Ashley, who was in her bed. Check out Erins third book, An Unimagiable Act. This book describes Erins journey across America to get Erins Law passed and resources for survivors, parents, and educators. I found hope and healing there and people that believed me. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. What if their family is pressuring them to just keep quiet and get on with their life? Erin's Law, named after Erin Merryn, has passed in 36 states and is pending in the other 14. Oh and of course my cousin's voice echoing through my head "No one will believe you, you have no proof, you will destroy this family, this is our secret!" While these inhumane animals may live among us, there is one sexual abuse survivor who has made it her mission to empower children about these evil, sick people and teach them about body safety. Eleven-year-old Erin Merryn's life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. At a family gathering at her grandparents' lake house, she awoke in the middle of the night to find her cousin "Brian" (again, not his real name), then 13 . Erin Merryn (born February 2, 1985) is the author of Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, and An Unimaginable Act. It ended only after a chance conversation between Merryn and one of her sisters, who blurted out one day that their cousin Brian was "gross." So, she forgave him. But both she and her sister did tell their stories. At a family gathering at her grandparents' lake house, she awoke in the middle of the night to find her cousin "Brian" (again, not his real name), then 13, lying next to her with his hands down her underwear. Every six minutes a child is sexually abused in the U.S. One in every 4 girls and 6 boys will be sexually assaulted before the turn 18 over 90% by a family member or friend. [3], "I was not educated on not keeping secrets if someone was hurting me. I came from a good home, two parents, good schools, safe neighborhood, etc. Erin Merryn from Elgin, Illinois, was just weeks shy of her seventh birthday when she was raped by an adult neighbor. I tell parents the best way to talk to kids about this is through the swimsuit lesson, Merryn said. Low near 30F. But then, it started happening behind closed doors at crowded family functions. The two continued to correspond for seven months. She told them that, growing up in Illinois, she had experienced tornado drills, fire drills and bus drills; was taught about stranger danger and eight ways to say no to drugs through D.A.R.E., but no one ever taught her how to protect herself from sexual abuse and what to do if a family member or friend molested or raped her. He told me, "Your goal is to convince everyone else." I always feared he would come back. Alaska Dispatch: Would something like what you are proposing -- Erin's Law -- have helped you? A place I went to with my eleven year old sister and mother. My mission, through this legislation, is to educate children on what I never learned. Erin says she believes everyone is born with a purpose and she has found hers through the events that have occurred in her life. I wouldn't have quit my job four years ago as a master's level counselor to go after this had I not been lead by the Lord. What do you think made him want to apologize, finally? I eventually would return back to the room I was interviewed in nine months later when I began doing individual counseling but was still not ready to go there into details the shame overwhelmed me however I did learn to finally stop blaming myself for what happened to my younger sister and my entire family. "He told me, just like in the past by this other perpetrator, 'Erin, this is our . "Erin's Law" is named after Schaumburg native and activist Erin Merryn. Choosing to forgive has led me to live for today. My second abuser, my cousin, came from a family of all boys. You seem incredibly resilient. It happened again after we moved away, when a cousin started abusing me in my sleep when I was 11 years old. Merryn says a few months ago, a local . 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