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<\/em><\/strong>Jenna Quinn is a child sexual abuse survivor, author, TED speaker, and the namesake of Jenna\u2019s Law. In 2009, Jenna\u2019s Law was the first comprehensive child sexual abuse prevention education law that passed in the U.S named after a survivor. It requires that each school district adopt and implement a prevention policy that educates students, teachers, and parents on how to prevent, recognize, and report child sexual abuse. Now, over half the country has passed prevention legislation since Jenna\u2019s Law. With a Masters Degree in Communications, she is a sought-after speaker who has traveled nationwide, educating and sharing her inspiring story with legislatures, law-enforcement, abuse-prevention groups, schools, communities of faith, nonprofit organizations, and the general public for over twelve years. As a survivor who benefited from the services of the Children\u2019s Advocacy Center, Jenna has worked with centers all across the country and educated communities about the CAC\u2019s important work. She is the National Spokesperson for Childhelp Speak Up Be Safe and has participated in both local and national radio, television, and news programs, dedicating her life to preventing child sexual abuse through education and legislation. <\/em>www.JennaQuinn.org<\/a><\/p>\n Here is her story: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The day after Christmas, when I was sixteen years old, I answered a simple but profound question from my older sister. \u201cHas anyone ever hurt you?\u201d she asked. Being sexually abused throughout my tween and teen years by an adult who had the trusted roles of both honorary family and coach, created a vortex of hopelessness. I felt powerless to escape. My innocence was stolen, my spirit and very will to live assassinated, and my life essentially destroyed. The effects of how I viewed myself and the damage to my relationships with others was impossible to hide or ignore. I built walls of self-protection that felt impenetrable. <\/p>\n By the age of sixteen years old I had completely changed from the young girl I once was\u2014vibrant, joyful, and loving. I was suicidal, depressed, anxious, withdrawn, and suffered from insomnia and night terrors. Yet no one could figure out what was wrong with me. The adults and students around me were puzzled at my sudden downward spiral. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Jenna?!\u201d The adults and students around me were not educated about the changes in behavior and likely warning signs of sexual abuse. My Mom even took me to several family doctors to find a physiological reason for why I had changed so much. With my hair falling out and low energy, they tested me for anemia and tested my thyroid. However, the doctors didn\u2019t diagnose me with anything. I was healthy. Twice I even went to the emergency room after two separate incidents of sexual assault. And after running tests for allergies, I wasn\u2019t allergic to anything. So the doctors concluded that stress might have caused my hives outbreak. How could I tell my best friend their father was a monster? How could I tell when threats from the perpetrator would follow?<\/em><\/p>\n The simple question my sister asked, \u201cHas anyone ever hurt you?\u201d resonated with me immediately. It\u2019s such a general question. There are many ways one can be hurt by someone. I gave her an answer without saying a word. Tears ran down my cheeks as I lost it right there at the restaurant where my sister and I were having lunch.<\/p>\n Finally, after catching my breath I told her who<\/em> had hurt me. The most important aspect of my disclosure to her was her reaction. Her reaction would determine the coarse of my fate. She believed me.<\/em> She offered her full support as I told Mom and Dad. That same evening we called the police and two police officers came to our home.<\/p>\n Along with the formal diagnosis of PTSD, I also received diagnoses of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and suicidal ideation. I\u2019ve learned that the road from trauma to growth is hardly a straight line and it\u2019s not a simple process, but the onset, the beginning of that journey, can be simple. I found it ironic, that what was used as a weapon against me, was also what healed me\u2014relationship and connection to others. When I was too weak to fight for myself I had an army of support to both rally around me and fight for me. The unwavering support of the Children\u2019s Advocacy Center consistently and compassionately answered those questions for me that so many survivors struggle with \u201cWho am I? What is my value? What is my worth?<\/em> Am I really worth all this effort?<\/em>\u201d That support is what made me believe my life was actually worthy<\/em> of living. I had counselors who believed in me when I didn\u2019t believe in myself. As I slowly started to believe in the work they put into me, to believe that I was deserving of the support they gave me, I started to appreciate my own life again. The support from The Children\u2019s Advocacy Center made all the difference in the world to my family and I. Not only did I receive one on one counseling, but I also received group counseling. When we were preparing to go to trial the CAC also provided me with court preparation. I am so grateful to the Children\u2019s Advocacy Center because I don\u2019t know where I would be without them.<\/p>\n Then, through counseling, I began to find my voice and I discovered a new love for self-expression. Talking and writing about my feelings helped me understand myself and create meaning out of the trauma I had experienced. My personal strength slowly grew through my search to understand and find meaning in what happened\u2014my ability to share my story, to tell it in my own way, in my own words, and eventually use it to create change. A defining moment of personal strength for me was when I testified in court against my perpetrator. Although I was on the stand for over three hours, I felt braver and stronger for having faced him.<\/p>\n After the trial though, I had another cross-roads in my journey. I wasn\u2019t just struggling with my own PTSD symptoms, but with the impact of my abuse and the trial on both my family and the perpetrator\u2019s family. And at that juncture, I had a decision to make. Like so many others, what had happened to me had challenged not just my perceptions of myself, but made me question my faith. Another damaged relationship. The God I had known before had become the God I didn\u2019t understand. The perpetrator came into my life through the private Christian School I attended. The same feelings and thoughts, those same walls of self-protection that had separated me from my family and friends had separated me from my faith. So, I knew I had a choice to make. I could continue my current damaged belief system, or I could go back to the roots of that relationship and rediscover my faith. And as I sought the source to turn my sorrows into joy I hung onto the belief that God would bring reason from what I had gone through, restore my life, and help me use my pain to help others.<\/p>\n My renewed belief system put me on a clear path to help prevent other children from experiencing the trauma I went through. As I gave interviews to raise awareness and participated in an internship at the CAC it became obvious to me that the society we live in was starving for education, the very foundation of prevention. That realization changed the trajectory of my life and led to my work as an advocate. Out of my Mom\u2019s experience as an educator (who was not taught the warning signs) and my own experience as a student (never having the chance to tell) the idea for Jenna\u2019s Law was born. In my home state of Texas we passed Jenna\u2019s Law in 2009 requiring prevention education for pre-K-12th grade students and teachers throughout our school system\u2014 a statute that was the first of it\u2019s kind. Now, since 2009, over 30 states have duplicated portions of Jenna\u2019s Law. While working on the legislation I became a national speaker, author, and educator to prevent child sexual abuse and trafficking. And as I travel the country, I know my life would have been different if the abuse had never happened. But I can\u2019t regret that out of my own horrible experiences I am able to expose the evil of sexual abuse and find such joy in helping others.<\/p>\n I am not ashamed to say that I am 1 out of the estimated 1 in 3 girls that is sexually abused before the age of eighteen. I know that I am not alone. In our country it\u2019s estimated that there are over 42 million survivors of child sexual abuse. And over 90% of the time a child is abused by someone they know and trust. Perpetrators use this pre-existing relationship as a deposit for the child\u2019s silence. It\u2019s easier to tell on a stranger than it is a family member or coach. We need to teach children it\u2019s OK to tell, <\/em>especially since it\u2019s estimated that 2\/3 of children will never tell. I know all too well that what\u2019s kept in secret has power over you. In silence, shame is allowed to grow. And silence and shame are the enemies weapon of choice. This is why we can\u2019t heal what we don\u2019t reveal.<\/p>\n Naturally, there is always a certain level of hopelessness and denial around these numbers, however, please be encouraged. This is where we arrive at my favorite piece of data in the field of child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n The Center for Disease Control has stated that this crime is preventable! It\u2019s estimated that 95% of child sexual abuse is preventable through education. When children and adults are educated about the crime, safety strategies on how to prevent, and taught who is safe to tell, and how to report, a victimized child is more likely to get the help they need. My hope to get prevention education into all communities is a direct result from my experience as a survivor. It only takes moments to empower a child\u2019s voice, but it can takes years, or even a lifetime for them to get their voice back. We cannot choose the route of personal comfort or self-protection over the responsibility of providing a safe environment for children. There is hope that inherently lies within the horrific crime of child sexual abuse if we are willing to take the necessary steps to prevent, acknowledge, and address the issue.<\/p>\n With limited space for writing about the importance of child sexual abuse prevention, more questions are answered and resources provided in my new book, Pure In Heart: A Memoir of Overcoming Abuse and Passing Jenna\u2019s Law, available on Amazon: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Pure-Heart-Memoir-Overcoming-Passing\/dp\/069273872X\/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504218007&sr=8-2&keywords=pure+in+heart<\/a><\/p>\n