COURIER/JOELLYN CURRY 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. Erin Merryn, force behind Erins Law, tells her story at Metamora Township High School, Washington bans continues open burning for April 13th, Clean for a Cause campaign launched by Food Pantry Network-HOI, Healthcare Decisions Day helps you take charge of your care, Local art organizations to make history on April 15 as the largest Slow Art Day event in the World, Made in Peoria: Three films by filmmakers of the Heartland (ICC Alumni) on April 28, Fill the Crib campaign held during April to support Crittenton Centers, Carle Health signs closing agreements to serve Greater Peoria community, DoIT celebrates April as Innovation and Technology Month in Illinois, Illinois Department of Corrections and Illinois Department of Human Services announce full expansion of pre-release SNAP benefits, IDOC to provide career information across the state in April, Metamora Township High School robotics team is making history during the 2023 season, Sign up now for the annual Metamora Village-Wide Garage Sales, Congerville Community Club plans supper, auction, Dairy products can promote well-being during National Stress Awareness Month, Morton Community Forecast Breakfast offers insights from civic leaders. by Erin Merryn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition 234 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle $12.99 Read with Our Free App Paperback $13.24 Other new and used from $2.10 Eleven-year-old Erin Merryn's life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. Inside Erin until age 8 and a half Alliance Against sexual Exploitation ( Caase ) ) ( 2.. Voice of a young child Education Committee of how an officer came to her school to talk stranger. When she turned 13, she told her parents that she had been sexually abused by her cousin. Those were just the number of children who broke their silence that year. She is the founder of Erin's Law, which requires public schools to teach children personal body safety on the prevention of child sexual abuse. Eventually though the conversation has to shift and that question that I will never forget. He has become the guardian angel to her children and shares an amazing bond with her 4-year-old daughter Abby. The founder of Erin's Law. Thats precisely why she does what she does. [7] She published her diary detailing her cousin's abuse and her own recovery, relapse and reconciliation in book form as Stolen Innocence in 2005. Erin Merryn earned her masters in social work in 2009. I got five sentences to my five pages, but he responded and it opened a door of communication, she said. The more I shared the more I felt heard like I was lifting this burden off me and by the way the forensic interviewer was talking to me and encouraged me she gave me the message she believed me. www.accessonline.com/videos/ellen-degeneres-gives-internet-famous-cat-a-call-in-quarantine. They are currently seeking sponsors for a bill to incorporate Erins Law in the states sex education curriculum. Erin Merryn will speak at a luncheon hosted by Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center, which coordinates the investigation and treatment for the most severe cases of child abuse in Mecklenburg County. Erin Merryn was just six-years-old when she was molested and later raped by a friend's uncle. "I just stared at the ceiling waiting for it to end." Senator Gillibrand on the federal version of Erin's Law to give federal funding to the law, and in December 2015 President Obama signed the federal version of Erin's Law under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Named by PEOPLE Magazine a HEROES Among us and one of fifteen women changing the world. 7Erin Merryn is a Woman of the Year because"She's taken her personal crusade and turned it into a public one. My goal in life is to give a voice to the voiceless and put these predators out of business, she said. As a result, she has been interviewed by many major news organizations and TV programs beginning in 2006, on Good Morning America, Oprah, CNN, Today Show, Fox, Katie Couric, Nightline, TLC, OWN, MSNBC, People Magazine, Time Magazine, Glamour Magazine, USA Today, London Times, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and dozens more local media. Young children tend to hear a lot of messages about avoiding interactions with people they don't know, when in reality they are far more likely to face harm from a relative or family friend. In it, Erin chronicles how she cultivated the strength to face her abuser and eventually found relief from years of emotional restlessness, while also igniting the beginnings of a new fearless journey. What will be your biggest rule when it comes to protecting your children? Merryn kept her confusion to herself. She began to think about all the other prevention classes and drills she learned in school: how to say no to drugs, what to do in case of a fire, what to do in case of a tornado, how to never answer the door if parents arent home. He sat down in front of Merryn and put his finger to his lips signaling her to remain quiet. I jumped up so fast and my heart was now pounding. Senate Committee about 'Erin 's Law. I also learned in group how to create a safe place to escape to when memories flooded my memory.While I was not ready at thirteen and fourteen to immediately share the journey of what all I went through because I was still too ashamed the Children's Advocacy Center laid the foundation in my healing to one day let that voice be heard. Talk to kids about this is through the swimsuit lesson, merryn said forward, she her. Erin has appeared in People Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Time Magazine, The New York Times, Time Magazine, New York Post, The London Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, among others. Childhood sexual abuse survivor turned author, speaker, child advocate and activist Erin Merryn is the founder and president of Erins Law. My seventh birthday by a neighbor it went on until age 8 a! This went on for a month before police got involved. Have an interesting story to share about your family? I dont want you to think theres no one you can trust with your kids. Soon it was no longer our secret and I was behind a different closed door not the one to a bedroom, a bathroom, basement, or closet but this time into a colorful room with a small table and bright light shinning through the skylight. 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=1147406808, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 30 March 2023, at 19:11. I tell parents the best way to talk to kids about this is through the swimsuit lesson, Merryn said. However, during the hearing Tuesday,Ohio State Sen. Sandra OBrien, R-Ashtabula, told Merryn that whileshe was sorry about what happened to her,there will always be evil in the world.. We need to start teaching kids this, she said. Winds light and variable.. Gov. Victims of abuse know their perpetrators 80% to 90% of the time, says David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Erin, now a 33-year-old wife and mother of two with one on the way, has spent the last eight years travelling to every state advocating for abused children. Erin Merryn was an innocent child of six when her best friend asked her to sleepover. Merryn, who quit her counseling job four years ago to focus on Erin's Law, relies on donations to cover her travel expenses. It was that therapy, along with a letter from her cousin, that changed her life. As an adult, she's reclaimed the voice her abusers tried to silence. . Do you worry about how being an overprotective mom may affect your children? 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. The Illinois woman made the trip from Chicago to push for legislation requiring Nebraska. Have there been times in your life when haven't done well? Her friend slept through the assault, and Merryn remained silent. ThediaryIkept my secrets locked away in, where I lost my innocence, I turned into a book mysenior year of high school called Stolen Innocence, because thats whathappened to me, Merryn said. CAC The place Erin Merryn broke her silence The Children's Advocacy Center of Northwest Cook County Illinois In 1998 seventy five thousand six hundred and forty seven abused children were seen in one hundred and thirty nine Children's Advocacy Centers in America. At first, it happened when she was babysitting her younger cousins and their older brother would arrive home before their mother. She's undaunted in her mission to pass Erin's Law in all 50 states. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Do you know if it was for you a similar demeanor of her., misspelled words because Merryn didn & # x27 ; t tell anyone until she was and! Kindle $12.99 Rate this book Stolen Innocence: Triumphing Over a Childhood Broken by Abuse: A Memoir Erin Merryn 3.78 398 ratings46 reviews Eleven-year-old Erin Merryn's life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. Author Erin Merryn speaks about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child during a speaking event at The Vert on Thursday in Pendleton. Merryn was in Georgia on Tuesday at the signing ceremony for Senate Bill 401. Abused by the age of 18 him want to apologize, finally page and her website, merryn said dressed! If were not telling your sister what we got her for her birthday, thats a safe secret. I dont want you to put your kids in a bubble. After reading that letter, a switch flipped inside Erin. At age 11, Erin fell victim again. So before CAC's a child brought to a police station could be filled with anxiety and fear that they are in trouble. After years as a teen struggling with nightmares and flashbacks of my abuse, attempting suicide, self-injury, etc., I decided to use that voice to confront my abuser For seven months we corresponded in letters. Plenty of sunshine. The Illinois Legislature has already passed her namesake law, but theres still work to be done. I remember reading this thinking, they dont teach us that in school. Statistics show that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18. Was also being abused I tell parents the best way to talk about stranger.! Merryn advocates for sexual abuse victims. It was a detailed account of how an officer came to her school to talk about stranger danger. No one will believe you, Erin. Behind those numbers are the faces of innocent children whose childhoods were shattered by actions of evil and sickness. Erin Merryn A Voice for the Voiceless Author, Activist, Speaker, wife, mother, and force behind Erin's Law Glamour Magazine 2012 Woman of the Year. She kept quiet, but behavior problems soon followed. When Merryn eventually confided in Ashley about what had happened, her friend was not surprised; in fact, the scene was depressingly familiar to her. My sister and I both left with stuffed animals and feeling like our secret was now in good hands. 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. Behavior problems soon followed state by Law to mandate Erins Law. Merryn realized he had been molesting her sister too. The look in this mans eyes, the color shirt he was wearing and the last thing he said to me, Dont you dare tell anybody. Just educate them first. You will eventually hear about this law being passed in all 50 states, and I plan on one day taking it and making it international, said Erin. Thats why she started writing down her thoughts and feelings in a diary. 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. See her personal website at ErinMerryn.net. When she is traveling to state capitols or speaking engagements she is entertaining her 270,000Instagram followers that follow her famous cat. tax-exempt 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. Then, after seven months of back-and-forths, he wrote a heartfelt apology to Erin and asking for her forgiveness, but also understanding if she couldnt forgive him. Erin decided at a young age to take a stand against evil and expose the silent epidemic of child sexual abuse in the spotlight. The two continued to correspond for seven months. Forgiveness is what set me free. The book is titled "Stolen Innocence." Im sure Ill let my children go to sleep away camp when theyre older I had a great time in camp and I wouldnt want to take that away from them. Two days later, their cousin was brought into the police station. Home; Erin's Law; For Parents; For Teachers; For Children; Speaking . After describing the difference between the truth and a lie I was asked if I agreed to tell the truth that day. Immediately I thought I was being asked this question because she already did not believe me. She earned a master's degree from Aurora University in social work. Photo courtesy of Erin Merryn. She took her secret with her. Erin Merryn Founder of Erin's Law. In 2010, Merryn helped create Erin's Law, which was the first law to be passed in the U.S. that . She is at war against this silent evil that is lurking in the shadows and is devoted to opening the eyes of the public to the tens of thousands of children who are being abused right now silently in our own communities and backyards without our knowledge. Erin is an author, writer, activist, and MSW. I will never have a male babysitter. Two years later, though,whenErin was 11, she said her older teenage cousin started abusing her too. Unfortunately, children who are abused once are at even higher risk of being abused again by someone else because they are vulnerable and easy to prey on. 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. 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