ABUSE MAGAZINE
Photo Source: artiedavis.com
• Required vision signed January
24, 2013
• Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri
Signs Erin’s Law July 14, 2011
• Governor Daniels of Indiana
signs Erin’s Law April 11, 2012
• Erin’s Law passes New York
Senate 55-1 April 30, 2012
• Erin’s Law passed in Maine in
May 2012
• Erin’s Law signed by Michigan
Governor Snyder January 2013
• Erin’s Law is currently being
introduced and voted on in 11
states 2012-2013
Growing up in Illinois public schools
every year I was educated with my
classmates on tornado
drills, fire drills, bus drills,
stranger
danger,
and
learned the 8 ways to say
“NO” to drugs through
D.A.R.E.
As a child
I never had
to take cover
because of a real
tornado. I never
had to stop, drop,
and roll or run out of
a burning building. I
never had to evacuate
a school bus due to an
emergency, but I had the
knowledge to know what
to do if any of those
situations
happened.
Where was the drill on how to escape a
child molester? Where was the lesson plan
on sexual abuse, safe touches, and safe
secrets? It never came. I was not educated
on “How to Tell Today or How to Get Away.”
I was never educated on “My Body Belongs
to Me.” When a grown man lay on top of me
at 6 1/2 years old and threaten to tie me
to a bed if I did not lay still and be quiet
as he raped me or when my teenage cousin
locked me behind closed doors and warned
me, “this is our little secret, no one will
believe you, this will destroy our family” as
he sexually abused me on a bed I stayed
silent and lived in that silence alone. When
I was raped and sexually abused as a child
I did not know what to do. I was confused
and scared. My body seemed to belong to
the men that used and abused it was the
message I learned, because I was getting no
other message.
It is my mission to pass Erin’s
Law in all 50 states and
I won’t let anything
stop me. Children
are waiting on us
to give them a
voice. The voice
I didn’t have as
a child.
15385 620th Ave.
Roland, IA
1-800-662-4642
504 6th Ave.
Sully, IA
1-800-469-1040
“We are proud to be a
drug free workplace”
515-233-0033
409 Douglas Ave. - Ames, IA
Auto Trim, Audio
& Accessories
“Accurate Auto is a proud supporter
of prevention programs
for our youth!”
402 E. Lincoln Way - Ames, IA
515-232-2060
abusemagazine.org | Iowa Fall/Winter 2013-2014 |
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