Katherine Clark: “I would like to share the story of a determined woman who took a traumatic personal experience from her past and is…”

“I would like to share the story of a determined woman who took a traumatic personal experience from her past and is using it to help people. Erin Merryn is a survivor of childhood sexual assault that began when she was just 7 years old. In her book, Erin shares: ``The only message I got as a child came from my abusers, and that was to stay silent or else. I went to bed night after night crying and keeping my secrets locked away in my childhood diary.'' Tragically, Erin's is not an uncommon story. Childhood sexual assault is a silent epidemic that exists in every one of our communities, and I am asking us to come together to do something about it. I am asking, as a mom of three boys first and as a lawmaker second, because every 6 minutes a child is sexually assaulted in the United States. One in four girls, and one in twenty boys are sexually assaulted before they turn age 18, and yet only a tenth of children who are sexually abused will tell someone. Survivors of child sexual assault carry the corrosive burden of this heinous act with them the rest of their lives. Survivors often experience guilt, isolation, problems with self-esteem, and building relationships. Erin shared her story to educate and protect thousands, if not millions, of children. And today, thanks to her work, policies that require schools to provide age-appropriate sexual abuse prevention education for teachers and students are called Erin's Law.…”