ABUSE Magazine
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As a child I never had to take cover
because
of a real tornado. I never had to
Governor Quinn signed first
stop, drop, and roll or run out of a burning
version of Erin’s Law creating
building. I never had to evacuate a school
task force February 14, 2011
bus due to an emergency, but I had the
knowledge to know what to do if any of
• Required vision signed
those situations happened. Where was the
January 24, 2013
drill on how to escape a child molester?
• Governor Jay Nixon of MisWhere was the lesson plan on sexual
souri Signs Erin’s Law July
abuse, safe touches, and safe secrets? It
never came. I was not educated on “How
14, 2011
to Tell Today or How to Get Away.” I was
• Governor Daniels of
never educated on “My body belongs to
Indiana signs Erin’s Law
me.” When a grown man lay on top of me
April 11, 2012
at 6 1/2 years old and threaten to tie me
to a bed if I did not lay still and be quiet
• Erin’s Law passes New York
as he raped me or when my teenage cousin
Senate 55-1 April 30, 2012
locked me behind closed doors and warned
me, “this is our little secret, no one will
• Erin’s Law passed in Maine
believe you, this will destroy our family” as
in May 2012
he sexually abused me on a bed I stayed
• Erin’s Law signed by
silent and lived in that silence alone. When
I was raped and sexually abused as a child
Michigan Governor Snyder
I did not know what to do. I was confused
January 2013
and scared. My body seemed to belong to
• Erin’s Law is currently
the men that used and abused it was the
being introduced and
message I learned, because I was getting no
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other message.
voted on in 11
states 20122013
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.
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