Erin Merryn
I feel we are all born with a purpose and I found mine.
I was born at home after putting my mother through 57 hours of all natural labor 25 years ago. My incredible story of my birth is just the beginning of this life I have been given. I believe every one is born with a purpose and I found my purpose through the events that have taken place in my life. I decided at a young age to take a stand against evil and instead expose it to put a silent epidemic in the spotlight. I turned my childhood diary into a book Stolen Innocence and self-published it when I was a senior in high school. It was republished by Health Communications Inc. in January 2005. I began flying the country telling my story of the sexual abuse I endured as a child. A story I am not ashamed of but instead inspired to put a face and voice on sexual abuse. My mission is to take the stigma and shame off of sexual abuse survivors and give them a reason to speak. To educate the public that children are being abused right now in your own communities and our own backyards. I am at war against this silent evil that is lurking in the shadows.
My media appearances have included Montel Williams in April 2006, Good Morning America in May 2006, I was apart of another Montel Williams show on most memorable guest update in July 2006. In October 2008 I was apart of a slide show on Oprah about superwomen. I have appeared in many local news station programs after speaking at an event. I have also taken part in numerous radio interviews. I appeared in a commercial that will begin airing on national tv starting in July 2010.
I have spoken at high schools, colleges, sexual assault centers, community events, and many events or conferences across America for Children's Advocacy Centers. I am dedicated to the work 700 Children's Advocacy Centers in America do for helping children heal. It was the very first place in my childhood I broke my silence and began sharing some of the details of what I went through. I learned there I was not at fault for what happened.
I earned my Bachelors degree in Social Work from Western Illinois University in May 2008. I will graduated in May 2009 with my Masters in Social Work from Aurora University. My second book Living For Today was published November 2nd and is in bookstores. I plan to put all my focus and energy into speaking engagements across America until I see the change America needs. I plan to fight to get mandated education programs in elementary schools on educating kids about abuse starting with the elementary school district I went to. While I cannot stop the evil that exists in our world I can do something to prevent kids from living in silence like me and giving them the knowledge to protect themselves. We teach kids stop, drop and roll in a fire. Yet no one teaches them safe touch and unsafe touch. Society needs to wake up and quit ignoring what so many want to avoid talking about. Avoiding the topic of sexual abuse won't make it go away and it is only going to get worse. I am one of those who will talk about it and will not let anything get in my way of bringing this epidemic in the spotlight. I am on an unstoppable crusade that has learned more in 24 years of life then I could have ever expected in a lifetime.
None of this could have been possible without my Faith in God. He has blessed me with an amazing life thus far and I am glad to call it my life. A life not defined by evil but how I have risen above evil and have embraced it with what I have discovered and that was my purpose in life and I'm just getting started. God has opened my eyes and heart more then I could have imagined showing me my purpose. A purpose that everything in our life happens for a reason even when it hurts so bad you question if this life is really worth living anymore. Believe me it is! The only way for this silent epidemic to change is for some people to make some noise and I cannot do it on my own. I need the voices of other survivors making some noise. The media addressing this epidemic not ignoring it. Schools educating their students not pretending it doesn't happen. I came into this world screaming and I plan on screaming my crusade to end the silence until my final day not allowing anyone or anything get in my way. Nothing and I mean NOTHING will stop me.