Standing Up For Change!

Tomorrow morning, Thursday May 28th, I travel to Oregon’s Capitol in Salem, to testify in support of House Bill 2827. This bill will lengthen the Statute of Limitations for those who have suffered sexual abuse. It is being met with much opposition from the Catholic church, the Mormon church and a few Senators who are siding with crooked individuals in order to protect the funds of their institutions. What about our children? That question will be my main focus. Sexual abuse needs to be prevented and this Bill is a small but a grand step. I am asking for your support: a prayer, love, a good thought. This will be my testimony tomorrow morning at 8 am: “Good morning. My name is Lauren Simon. I am a mother of two, stepmother of four. I am an author, therapist (who meets with sexually abused adults), speaker and screenwriter. I am also a survivor of sexual abuse who was not honored by the system because of the statute of limitations. I am not here as a member of any organization or institution. I am here as a mother, wife, and therapist. I am someone who personifies the families who are yet to deal with such a tragedy, the very families who will be helped by passing this bill. If you want to know how a woman at 43 years of age becomes suddenly conscious of the dark truth of her sexual abuse, then I am your expert. Three years ago, my daughter came forward about her own abuse at the hands of my step father. In that instant, I was gutted, and the truth of my own abuse spilled out onto the floor in front of me. For years, I believed my parents were perfect and loving. It is only in the last few years that certain triggers have made me remember that I went to my mother to stop my abuse and she did nothing. My brain had created a perfect family so I could survive and continue to endure the abuse. Moments of crisis throughout my life triggered awareness of my past. I always knew it was back there somewhere, but it wasn’t present in my daily conscious life. I do know, for myself, as well as through those I work with in my sexual abuse support group, that usually someone in their twenties or thirties doesn’t have a stable enough base to deal consciously with the horrid betrayal and truth of sexual abuse. That usually doesn’t happen until we hit our forties or even fifties. One thing I know for sure personally, and through the survivors I work with, is that three years is not enough after a crisis triggers awareness to honor a survivor and assist with healing. And….. there is one other thing that I know for absolute sure: God wants us to heal. This means we all have the responsibility to see that House Bill 2827 is not only voted for but that it is passed without amendments. This isn’t a huge step, but it is an improvement in the legal system that can make grand leaps in the lives of those who have been harmed by sexual abuse.” www.spiritoflivingwell.com