Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1241

Tonight's special guest is Kim Lakin from Littleton, Colorado, a child abuse survivor and advocate who's co-founder of "A Sickness of Silence" with her childhood friend, Cheri Roberts. They provide a monthly podcast, round table, talk show on child sex abuse. "My sexual abuse started when I was around 4 or 5 years old until I was about 12, by multiple abusers," Kim explains. "At 13 I was interested in boys, and ready to be free from the sexual, mental, physical abuse that was haunting me in my home. There were many drugs, shared with the children, weird religions and parties. I've always thought of my childhood as living in a ‘free love’ atmosphere. Great for pedophiles .. not so much for children!" A year later the family relocated and she met her first real boyfriend. She was caught trying to sneak out of the house to see him. "My dad threw me through the wall, and I decided it was time I told my Mom what he had done. I felt she dismissed it." The birth of her first child, at 18, made a big difference, and a year after her baby was born she met her husband. "I've spent many years in different kinds of therapy and counseling. I still feel there are many days that I feel no one understands what I'm feeling. I live in a house of “normal” people." She goes on, " I've felt for years that God would use me to be an advocate for child sex abuse, but it is just recently that I've started talking openly about my abuse. I've encountered abused children in my work and volunteer career, and because of my experience, have always wanted to give children the gift of hope, grace, forgiveness and love."