Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2793

Tonight's special guest is Annie Margis from Long Beach, California, a survivor of incest in her childhood. She's the author of the book and producer of the film 'The Ugliest Word', about a little girl who survives childhood incest. "As a survivor myself," Annie says, "one of the things that gave me strength was my ability to find community through sites like Facebook. Many victims are so ashamed of the stigma of abuse that they can never find true healing." She explains, "I wrote The Ugliest Word because I realize acknowledging the crime of incest is necessary in fighting it." The book, available on Amazon, tells the story of a little girl named Lark whose father is molesting her, as she navigates childhood, and the woman she becomes. As a grown woman, Lark learns to cope with her past but her healing is disrupted when she receives word that her father is dying. Maybe he'll apologize in a death-bed confession. Maybe she'll forgive him. But maybe she won't. 'The  Ugliest Word' is for anyone who has survived childhood incest, and for everyone who loves a survivor, is friends with or works with one. There's a promotional video about the movie on YouTube. As a childhood incest victim, Annie is working to end the taboo against talking about incest. In 2012, with the help of a cadre of volunteers, she created and ran an ongoing phone conference line where adult victims of childhood incest from around the world connect with fellow survivors and share their stories. Having heard thousands of tragic personal histories, Annie is a front-line expert on the life-long impact of childhood incest.