FULL INTERVIEW: Elizabeth Smart reflects on 20th anniversary of her rescue after 9-month kidnapping — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:0020 years
2. 0:02since you were reunited with your family
3. 0:04how did you get here so gracefully
4. 0:07I don't know if it's been gracefully but
5. 0:09I mean I would say it is a miracle
6. 0:12because I've definitely remember a time
7. 0:15when I couldn't imagine ever being able
8. 0:17to say 20 years
9. 0:20or or even 10 years for that matter just
10. 0:23seemed
11. 0:24to
12. 0:26I don't know I'm too huge
13. 0:29for my little mind to comprehend I mean
14. 0:32it just seemed that everything that I
15. 0:34had been through it was so
16. 0:36just horrific and shocking that trying
17. 0:40to look into the future felt
18. 0:43incredibly intimidating and impossible
19. 0:46so gracefully maybe not but
20. 0:50um
21. 0:51miraculously and very thankfully
22. 0:54appeared gracefully I guess to many of
23. 0:56us right at the beginning you have such
24. 0:59a nice tight-knit family how did they
25. 1:02help you take those baby steps to
26. 1:04recovery
27. 1:06um my family they were
28. 1:10I mean it's what I had held on to for
29. 1:13for nine months I mean they were the
30. 1:15reason why I survived was believing that
31. 1:18they'd still love me that they'd still
32. 1:19want me back that they'd still be there
33. 1:21for me and so coming home and being able
34. 1:24to be with them was
35. 1:27I mean it was everything I prayed for
36. 1:30it had to be intensive therapy to help
37. 1:33you and your family through all this
38. 1:36um I I believe in therapy I like I'm a
39. 1:41strong Advocate and supporter of therapy
40. 1:43but when I was young when I first
41. 1:45returned I didn't really understand what
42. 1:48it was in my mind I had a very
43. 1:51um
44. 1:52I
45. 1:53got a wrong idea of what it was but in
46. 1:55my mind it was going into a room full of
47. 1:58shelves filled with books with
48. 2:01um an old man sitting at his desk with
49. 2:04like glasses perched on the end of his
50. 2:07nose like leaning across his like hands
51. 2:10like this and then me lying on like a
52. 2:12leather settee and I remember thinking
53. 2:16no
54. 2:17that's not why would that help me he
55. 2:19couldn't possibly understand what I went
56. 2:21through he couldn't pause he wasn't
57. 2:23there like what gives him like the right
58. 2:27to tell me what's going to help me now
59. 2:28when he wasn't there he doesn't know
60. 2:31what it was like so I had a very
61. 2:33misguided idea of what therapy was so
62. 2:35although my parents were very supportive
63. 2:38and they're like Elizabeth you know like
64. 2:39let's you know like let's get out of
65. 2:41therapy or let's go to this let's go to
66. 2:42that I just didn't understand what it
67. 2:44was so I said that I did not want to go
68. 2:47I didn't want to talk about with anyone
69. 2:49I didn't want to see a therapist I
70. 2:51didn't want to talk to someone who could
71. 2:52pretend or thought they could relate to
72. 2:55me when I didn't feel like anyone could
73. 2:58um so I did not go the traditional path
74. 3:00that being said
75. 3:03I
76. 3:06look back at myself now having a much
77. 3:10better understanding of what therapy is
78. 3:12now and do I think that it could have
79. 3:14helped yeah I think it could have do I
80. 3:17think it could have made a difference
81. 3:18for me yeah I think it could have but I
82. 3:22didn't know that then and it's in the
83. 3:24past so I can't I can't go back and redo
84. 3:26it but I do think there are so many
85. 3:29wonderful you know disciplines of
86. 3:32therapy and and I strongly support and
87. 3:36advocate for anyone who needs that extra
88. 3:39help in their life there's nothing
89. 3:40shameful or embarrassing about going to
90. 3:43it I mean personally I think it's a very
91. 3:46um evident sign of strength because
92. 3:49therapy is hard I mean as I've as an
93. 3:52adult as I have experience therapy now
94. 3:54and as I've spoken with other survivors
95. 3:56everyone every one of my acquaintance
96. 3:59that has been and has taken it seriously
97. 4:01has always said those mental workouts
98. 4:03are much harder than any kind of workout
99. 4:05you could get in the gym
100. 4:06so um well it seems like you've kind of
101. 4:09created your own therapy then it I've
102. 4:11heard it described as anybody who goes
103. 4:13through trauma kind of kicks into a
104. 4:15survival mode
105. 4:16um I know when I went through cancer
106. 4:18treatment it was get up and go to work
107. 4:20and I didn't want anybody to worry about
108. 4:21me and you didn't realize that I was
109. 4:24really scared until years later but
110. 4:28every trauma is a little bit different
111. 4:30and every treatment's a little bit
112. 4:32different
113. 4:33did you have your own kind of therapy
114. 4:35with just playing the harp yes so I mean
115. 4:37my my parents because they were so
116. 4:41worried about me when I said no they
117. 4:43went to therapy and I think their
118. 4:45therapist said you know what ultimately
119. 4:47it's okay like let her make this Choice
120. 4:50you're going to be her biggest therapist
121. 4:52anyway so you need to make sure you're
122. 4:54both in a healthy enough place that you
123. 4:56can actually be there for her so I'm
124. 4:59also a huge proponent of self-care but
125. 5:01so my parents were very they were huge
126. 5:05um in my healing and supporting me and
127. 5:09helping me work through whatever I was
128. 5:11feeling at the time
129. 5:13um playing the harp yeah it has been a
130. 5:16big part of my life things that I didn't
131. 5:18feel like I could articulate in words I
132. 5:21felt like I could express through music
133. 5:23um being outside I love I love being
134. 5:27outside
135. 5:28my grandpa he used to take me up
136. 5:31horseback riding in the mountains and I
137. 5:33think that was my very
138. 5:35very
139. 5:37most favorite thing an organic therapy
140. 5:40before and after my kidnapping yeah yeah
141. 5:43and how are your parents now
142. 5:45um they are they're both doing well in
143. 5:49their separate lives yeah
144. 5:52did helping you
145. 5:54help them a little bit
146. 5:57um
147. 5:59yeah
148. 6:00um because I
149. 6:02I at that point in my life I mean
150. 6:06I would say that I was
151. 6:08I was fairly self-aware but at the same
152. 6:12time I mean my parents had always been
153. 6:15my parents and in my mind
154. 6:18like that was their always their
155. 6:20responsibility so me taking into
156. 6:23consideration what they might possibly
157. 6:24be going through at that point in time
158. 6:26it didn't enter I still saw it as well
159. 6:29you still had the whole family and I'm
160. 6:32back now so like your happiness should
161. 6:35be complete it's all better yeah exactly
162. 6:37it's all better I mean it was very
163. 6:38one-sided but now as an adult myself and
164. 6:41having kids myself becoming a mother
165. 6:43myself and I'm just like
166. 6:45oh my goodness I don't even know how
167. 6:47they did it as a parent how do you
168. 6:50relate to them now can you imagine no
169. 6:54gym
170. 6:55you want to throw up when I think
171. 7:02imagine I hope I never have to learn
172. 7:04what it was like for them because I just
173. 7:06I can't I can't stand it I can't stand
174. 7:09that thought
175. 7:11what do your kids know
176. 7:13um so my my older two they
177. 7:16they
178. 7:17well my oldest she could tell you like
179. 7:20the rough very rough outline of the
180. 7:23story she couldn't go into details or
181. 7:25anything she's
182. 7:26I don't think she's quite
183. 7:28age-appropriate and she's very sensitive
184. 7:31and
185. 7:33and I think there's I think it's good to
186. 7:35answer questions when they are asked but
187. 7:37I also think it's good to
188. 7:40um not just dump and unload on them more
189. 7:43than they're ready to handle or process
190. 7:44so I mean every parent has a fear you
191. 7:48lived it yeah and you don't want to be
192. 7:51too dramatic or create a bigger fear
193. 7:52than Israel yeah and I mean she's eight
194. 7:55I I don't think she's ready to hear
195. 7:58details about being raped
196. 8:01um so
197. 8:03so she could tell you
198. 8:05like
199. 8:07vaguely what happened my little boy he
200. 8:11um
201. 8:12he doesn't care that much to be honest
202. 8:17um he
203. 8:19yeah that doesn't interest him in quite
204. 8:23the same way it does my older daughter
205. 8:25and my youngest I mean she's just the
206. 8:27boss anyway so and she's out she just
207. 8:30tells everyone else what to do she's for
208. 8:31before okay and she's the boss she's the
209. 8:34boss yeah
210. 8:36at what point did you realize that
211. 8:38turning something so horrible into
212. 8:41something positive would help you
213. 8:44was that a little therapeutic no if it
214. 8:46was honestly a conscious
215. 8:48a conscious decision that was ever made
216. 8:52um my dad always emphasized the
217. 8:55importance of service
218. 8:57and my I mean my grandparents emphasized
219. 9:00the importance of service I feel like my
220. 9:03whole family always emphasized the
221. 9:05importance of service and how if you go
222. 9:07stay somewhere you should leave it
223. 9:09better than you found it if you borrow
224. 9:10someone's car it doesn't matter like how
225. 9:13full the gas tank was you should return
226. 9:14it full like
227. 9:16like and if you hopefully when you die
228. 9:20you leave the world a better place than
229. 9:22than when you found it the world was
230. 9:24better for having you be a part of it
231. 9:26than not and I feel like that was always
232. 9:28kind of my family's mentality and so my
233. 9:30dad
234. 9:32um he was always
235. 9:34um trying to Advocate I mean from the
236. 9:36day that I got home it wasn't just like
237. 9:39a celebration of me coming home but then
238. 9:41his Focus was you know on getting the
239. 9:43Amber Alert passed through and and you
240. 9:46know raising awareness for other missing
241. 9:48children and being involved in different
242. 9:50search efforts and
243. 9:53helping to shed light on cases that that
244. 9:56didn't have uh attention or notoriety at
245. 10:00all and I feel like little by little he
246. 10:03pulled me in and he'd ask me am I that
247. 10:06makes it sound like I was coerced he did
248. 10:08not
249. 10:09um I would say I was intrigued in
250. 10:12um you know he'd asked me things like
251. 10:13what do you think of this do you think
252. 10:14this would have made a difference in
253. 10:15your case do you feel like this if you
254. 10:17had known this would this made a
255. 10:18difference to you and it was kind of
256. 10:20those questions along the way or being
257. 10:23like what do you think of this or you
258. 10:24know or me asking well where are you
259. 10:26going and being like Oh I'm going to
260. 10:27Capitol Hill I'm going to go talk about
261. 10:29this today and I'd be like oh well
262. 10:32I want to come that kind of
263. 10:36naturally led me into this path and now
264. 10:40intrigued was a good word yeah now I
265. 10:42don't feel like I could
266. 10:45like in my heart of hearts I don't feel
267. 10:47like I could go down any other path I
268. 10:49mean I have many interests and have many
269. 10:51hobbies but I think
270. 10:53I think whenever an issue would come up
271. 10:56or if I knew something I would always
272. 10:58feel
273. 11:00like I was hiding from what I was
274. 11:02supposed to be doing and now you're
275. 11:05doing that instead are there times
276. 11:06though when you want to hide when the
277. 11:08memories come back and and you have a
278. 11:11rough time
279. 11:13um
280. 11:15I don't know that there are times from
281. 11:18my past that come back that make me want
282. 11:20to hide but uh I think everyone has days
283. 11:23where you're just like I just need to
284. 11:25leave
285. 11:26um or I've had enough I need a break
286. 11:29I think everyone could probably find
287. 11:31commonality in that sentiment but
288. 11:33nothing from the memories of that event
289. 11:35have you have you stored them away have
290. 11:37you filed them away of all the horrible
291. 11:40things that happened
292. 11:42um I mean I can I mean they're not
293. 11:44something that I think about on a
294. 11:47on a daily basis
295. 11:50but I mean I like I certainly have
296. 11:53shared my story far and wide and and I I
297. 11:57am able to talk about it and I'm okay I
298. 12:00would say that it affects me in the
299. 12:02things that I then choose to consume I
300. 12:05mean TV shows or movies or books or
301. 12:10podcasts
302. 12:12um I mean I
303. 12:16I don't want to watch violence and I
304. 12:20don't want to watch
305. 12:22um highly emotional things and and I
306. 12:25don't want to
307. 12:27feel scared
308. 12:29or feel worried or I don't want to see
309. 12:33like
310. 12:36people willfully choosing to hurt other
311. 12:39people I mean like I don't need any of
312. 12:41that extra in my life so I mean once I'm
313. 12:46done speaking or once I'm done
314. 12:48advocating or whatever I've done during
315. 12:51the day when it's the night time
316. 12:53I usually watch the lightest fluffiest
317. 12:56stuff you can possibly find or
318. 12:58Children's shows
319. 13:02with your kids yes yeah and you do play
320. 13:05with your kids do you have any hobbies
321. 13:07what stuff do you do during the day
322. 13:10um well so last night actually we were
323. 13:13all out skiing together
324. 13:15so that was that was fun we liked it we
325. 13:19this winter my kids have all been in
326. 13:22lessons and on the ski team so that's
327. 13:25got us out to ski together every weekend
328. 13:27and I mean I'm sure we'll probably all
329. 13:30reached our capacity for being excited
330. 13:33about the snow falling but enough if
331. 13:35there was ever a winter to enjoy it I'm
332. 13:38glad it was this one and your day job is
333. 13:41a passion that you have now and you're
334. 13:43actually turning what happened to you
335. 13:45into something positive for other people
336. 13:47and even to prevention yeah
337. 13:50in 2011 my dad and I we started the
338. 13:53Elizabeth Smart foundation and we were
339. 13:56much more of a passive organization we
340. 13:58kind of uh did things a little bit more
341. 14:01behind the scenes and then the pandemic
342. 14:03hit and
343. 14:04I felt like we needed to be doing so
344. 14:08much more than what we were doing and
345. 14:11actually in 2022 last year just over a
346. 14:16year ago one of the most exciting things
347. 14:18that happened was that we joined forces
348. 14:20with the Malouf foundation and that has
349. 14:23just been incredible because all of a
350. 14:25sudden you know there's
351. 14:28so much more manpower and energy and I
352. 14:32want to say force behind each of our
353. 14:34initiatives which has been really great
354. 14:37and you know a lot of the questions that
355. 14:39I get asked when I go out and speak are
356. 14:41things like you know how can I help what
357. 14:44can I do and actually
358. 14:46actually some of our resources are great
359. 14:49ways that you can help taking these
360. 14:52resources doing these resources will be
361. 14:54a great way to help the first one is
362. 14:56called I am on watch dot org it is
363. 14:59learning how to recognize the signs of
364. 15:03human trafficking what to do and this is
365. 15:06not just good for specifically human
366. 15:08trafficking but just recognizing red
367. 15:10flags in general and being aware of
368. 15:13what's around you I mean it's completely
369. 15:15free you just go online and take it and
370. 15:17get educated that's what I'm asking you
371. 15:19to do the other thing that is also
372. 15:21really amazing is our other app it's
373. 15:23called raise it's available on all all
374. 15:26app store platforms but it's also a tool
375. 15:30to help you communicate better with your
376. 15:32kids you know there has been such a I
377. 15:35want to say I want to say it's 98
378. 15:37percent increase of online victimization
379. 15:41since the pandemic I mean that's you
380. 15:44know that is so much kids are being
381. 15:47taken advantage of like it's just it's
382. 15:49horrific and
383. 15:51um
384. 15:52like honestly when I first started
385. 15:55speaking and people would be like oh
386. 15:56well what can I do it was kind of easy
387. 15:58to be like well don't let computers be
388. 16:00in private bedrooms keep them out in the
389. 16:02main area make sure you're just in the
390. 16:05area when people are on them but um you
391. 16:08can't say that everyone has a tiny
392. 16:10computer in their hand that they're like
393. 16:12their life is connected to so the best
394. 16:15thing you can do is communicate with
395. 16:16them and this raise app what it does is
396. 16:18it helps you create opportunities to
397. 16:21have those conversations educates you so
398. 16:23you are able to address topics of you
399. 16:26know sexual victimization
400. 16:29um you know online predatory behavior
401. 16:31even things like cyber bullying even
402. 16:33things that are not
403. 16:35um necessarily immediately connected to
404. 16:38sexual exploitation but still things
405. 16:40that are very important for parents to
406. 16:43have conversations about with their kids
407. 16:46and tips on how to talk to your kids
408. 16:47about it because I mean even younger
409. 16:49people ask me like all the time and I'm
410. 16:51like I've only been a parent for eight
411. 16:53years like you think I'm an expert in
412. 16:54this already like please like you have
413. 16:5726 year old twins like please you tell
414. 16:59me what comes next
415. 17:02um but you have professionals who help
416. 17:03walk through but yes so there are these
417. 17:06both these apps were developed not not
418. 17:07by me personally personally
419. 17:09um right it it might be a bit messy if
420. 17:11it was just up to me I don't know there
421. 17:13were professionals and experts like you
422. 17:16said the Manpower the surrounding this
423. 17:18has been great exactly it's been
424. 17:20incredible yeah and then the smart
425. 17:22defense and smart defense yeah um you
426. 17:24know I was on a plane a few years ago
427. 17:27and I fell asleep and you know a man
428. 17:29reached across and was like rubbing
429. 17:30inside of my leg and I was so shocked I
430. 17:33just froze which I would like to stay is
431. 17:36a natural response I mean fight flight
432. 17:39freeze in a piece and I froze and when I
433. 17:42got off the plane I just remember
434. 17:43thinking this is not okay if this is
435. 17:45happening to me up in like business
436. 17:47class
437. 17:48like in the middle of the day it wasn't
438. 17:51even a Night Flight in the middle of the
439. 17:52day like what else is happening to other
440. 17:54people everywhere else
441. 17:56and this is this is not okay like we
442. 17:59like maybe we need to become a bit more
443. 18:01vocal and maybe we need to become a bit
444. 18:03more physical
445. 18:05um I mean if my daughter ever gets in
446. 18:07trouble for defending herself I mean for
447. 18:09for fighting someone and I find out it's
448. 18:11because she was defending herself like
449. 18:13we're celebrating yeah we're gonna go to
450. 18:16Hawaii for that because that's I would
451. 18:17rather
452. 18:18I would rather be called down to the
453. 18:20principal's office but know that she
454. 18:23protected herself
455. 18:25then
456. 18:27then have something
457. 18:29you know
458. 18:32unchangeable happen yeah irreversible
459. 18:35happen like what happened to you like
460. 18:37what happened to me you were 14 how
461. 18:40young should we be talking to kids
462. 18:42you can start I mean I think you can
463. 18:44start immediately
464. 18:45um from when they're little we always
465. 18:47talk about safety like you know no don't
466. 18:50stick your finger in the socket like no
467. 18:52like we have gates up so our babies
468. 18:55don't fall down the stairs I mean like
469. 18:57my little boy
470. 18:59he might roll his eyes at me or he might
471. 19:02not really care about a lot of the
472. 19:04things that I do but when I come down
473. 19:07and I'm really strict with them I'm like
474. 19:08no you cannot do this and then I'll be
475. 19:10like do you understand why you can't do
476. 19:13this and he'll be like yes it's because
477. 19:15you want us to stay safe
478. 19:18um so I mean I think these are
479. 19:20conversations that grow with your kids
480. 19:22you start out very simple and then you
481. 19:25grow with them as your child grows then
482. 19:27they learn to protect themselves and
483. 19:29then that builds that that trust level
484. 19:31of communication that heaven forbid
485. 19:33anything ever happens to them but if it
486. 19:35does they can tell you I mean the amount
487. 19:39of times I've heard from survivors that
488. 19:41they were told oh we have to keep you to
489. 19:43secret we have to keep it a secret your
490. 19:44parents won't love you your parents will
491. 19:46get in trouble like that kind of
492. 19:48manipulation and
493. 19:51um
494. 19:52dialogue is so devastating it's
495. 19:56brainwashing and and exactly and so
496. 19:59making sure that your child understands
497. 20:01that and knows that they always need to
498. 20:03tell you that you are their safe person
499. 20:05that you are you are their person
500. 20:08um that that needs to be a lifetime of
501. 20:11building not just yesterday not just an
502. 20:14hour well it seems like you're doing a
503. 20:16lot with Maloof with the self-defense
504. 20:18and education and speaking what do you
505. 20:22what's the main thing you hope People
506. 20:23Come Away with
507. 20:25I hope that
508. 20:27I hope that
509. 20:30as cliche as these sound I hope that
510. 20:32survivors that everyone because I mean
511. 20:35not everyone's story is the same but
512. 20:37everyone does have
513. 20:39a story I mean you have a story I have a
514. 20:41story
515. 20:42um I hope people really do realize that
516. 20:45they are special that they are unique
517. 20:47they have something wonderful to offer
518. 20:49the world that nobody else does I hope
519. 20:52they recognize that circumstance or
520. 20:56other people cannot take away their
521. 20:58value it doesn't matter what's happened
522. 21:01to them that doesn't that doesn't lessen
523. 21:04their worth in any way and I hope that
524. 21:07they recognize that yes this terrible
525. 21:10thing has happened it's very easy to
526. 21:12feel defined by that but ultimately you
527. 21:15get to decide who you are and you get to
528. 21:17decide if you like the person who you
529. 21:19are or if you're proud of the person who
530. 21:21you are by the decisions that you make
531. 21:23going forward you get to decide who you
532. 21:25are
533. 21:26I think people really want to know if
534. 21:28you're really okay yes
535. 21:33I mean I do laundry I cook dinner and
536. 21:39foreign
537. 21:41potty train my kids the same way as
538. 21:43everyone else has and I'm yeah I'm great
539. 21:46but to have been through so much that is
540. 21:48unimaginable for most of us
541. 21:52I mean being a kid honestly like my
542. 21:57dream was to grow up and and be a mom
543. 22:00that's what I wanted that's what my
544. 22:02sister and I we play dolls we play
545. 22:04dress-ups and it was always you know
546. 22:06growing up and having having kids and
547. 22:09having a family and my life is
548. 22:11absolutely different than what I
549. 22:13imagined it but it's also so much better
550. 22:15because not only do I have the joy and
551. 22:19happiness of having a wonderful family
552. 22:21myself and being able to be married and
553. 22:24and have someone that I care about so
554. 22:26deeply and have all of these things that
555. 22:29I dreamed of having but I also get to do
556. 22:32something every day that I know makes an
557. 22:34impact and makes a difference and
558. 22:37hopefully educates people so that maybe
559. 22:39someday hopefully before I die we can
560. 22:43see the statistics start to change and
561. 22:45we can see the culture take a bigger
562. 22:47shift and we can you know we can see
563. 22:50real change happen
564. 22:53I'll leave an education and early
565. 22:55detection will help so many people
566. 22:58absolutely I mean education you're
567. 23:01these are we I
568. 23:04there's so much pressure on on schools
569. 23:07and teachers to teach this and teach
570. 23:10that and make sure this
571. 23:12um so this is not me criticizing them at
572. 23:16all I have the deepest respect for
573. 23:18teachers
574. 23:19but I think of what we are taught in
575. 23:22schools as far as safety goes I mean I
576. 23:25remember being taught
577. 23:28um
578. 23:29stop drop and roll if you catch on fire
579. 23:31I remember having fire drills hide under
580. 23:34the desk in an earthquake hide under a
581. 23:36desk in an earthquake yeah I mean I'm
582. 23:38absolutely heartbroken to think that you
583. 23:42know kids are taught safety training of
584. 23:44what to do if an active shooter comes
585. 23:46into schools and stuff like that tears
586. 23:48me apart but I also think another key
587. 23:51component that we really should be
588. 23:52focusing on is what to do if you are
589. 23:56assaulted I mean every 68 seconds
590. 23:58someone is sexually assaulted every nine
591. 24:01minutes that person is a child and you
592. 24:05know 25
593. 24:0626 25
594. 24:08of all female college undergrad students
595. 24:12have a rape like a violent rape
596. 24:16completed on them and you were twice as
597. 24:18likely to be raped as a student like a
598. 24:21college student than you are to be
599. 24:23robbed and so many don't come forward
600. 24:24and and those numbers they should
601. 24:27terrify everyone
602. 24:29um and so we really should be talking
603. 24:32about you know what do you do and
604. 24:37what do you do if someone discloses to
605. 24:39you because that's a huge responsibility
606. 24:41as well and you know where is the stop
607. 24:44drop and roll of that I mean I mean I
608. 24:47don't know
609. 24:49like
610. 24:50I I couldn't tell you statistics on how
611. 24:53many people have used that stop drop and
612. 24:55roll to save themselves but I would
613. 24:57venture to guess the statistics for the
614. 25:00likelihood of of people to be sexually
615. 25:03assaulted are probably much higher than
616. 25:05people to catch on fire and so why are
617. 25:08we not addressing that a little bit more
618. 25:10or when you want people to come forward
619. 25:12that we believe you campaign yeah we
620. 25:14believe you I mean that's one of our my
621. 25:17favorite campaigns initiatives we've run
622. 25:20it all November long and it is an
623. 25:22educational campaign that we run to
624. 25:24educate communities on how to respond
625. 25:26when someone discloses but also to help
626. 25:29survivors know that we do believe them I
627. 25:31you know I've presented in every state
628. 25:33and any time I have the opportunity to
629. 25:36mix and meet with people I always have
630. 25:39people disclosed to me and too many
631. 25:41times it's been I've never told anyone
632. 25:42this before or I tried to tell someone
633. 25:44this and they didn't believe me so I've
634. 25:47never spoken about it again how can that
635. 25:49be acceptable to anyone well you weren't
636. 25:53believed in some cases you told me once
637. 25:55that that you've had people say oh it
638. 25:57didn't really happen yeah I mean those
639. 26:00have been very few the vast majority I
640. 26:02mean they stick out because they were so
641. 26:04shocking yeah I'm the vast majority of
642. 26:06people have believed me and supported me
643. 26:09and I really think that's made a huge
644. 26:11difference in in my recovery because it
645. 26:13has only been like
646. 26:15the outliers and the people that I have
647. 26:19many questions about that say those
648. 26:21kinds of things
649. 26:23but if your whole support base said no
650. 26:27that didn't happen or yeah no I don't
651. 26:29believe it even the first person didn't
652. 26:30believe you yeah yeah how devastating
653. 26:33would that be
654. 26:35and thank you for making people aware
655. 26:37thank you