Dear Katie: Survivor Stories

This week, our episode features Anita Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, a Nigerian physician who is dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls through medical practice, social activism and public advocacy against gender-based violence.  Professionally, Dr. DaSilva-Ibru is a consultant specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology, as well as a public health physician, with over 20 years’ experience in privat...

Wielding his degree in public health as a preventative weapon, Shawn shares how he navigates empathizing with intersectionally disadvantaged communities. Shawn delves into one of his processes of prevention: working with those who perpetuate hateful rhetoric. He explains the power of tracing hate back to its root, and learning what brought perpetrators to their beliefs, to better understand, and b...

From farmer’s country to rich New England town, 13-year-old Rae Beth was the new kid at her middle school. As an outcast, she found friendship in a classmate who did not share the privileges of their peers. At her new best friend’s birthday party, Rae Beth is sexually assaulted for the first time by her friend’s father, the beginning of a series of repeated, chilling instances. After six years of...

While learning to heal others in medical school, young Larisa found herself targeted by a teacher, someone she was supposed to admire and trust. Her experiences led her to turn away from traditional medicine and toward holistic healing, with her understanding of sexual trauma propelling her to create The Evolving Story of Women, an advocacy group dedicated to ending sexual violence.  Hosts: Claire...

This week, we sit down with Patti Giggans, legendary activist and Executive Director of Peace Over Violence, a non profit dedicated to ending interpersonal violence. She shares stories of one on one intervention, and how speaking with even a single individual can change minds and initiate global change.  For more information on Peace Over Violence and the amazing work led by Patti and other ground...

Inspirational and empowering, Stephanie Olson speaks to leaders around the globe to share lessons on resilience; however, her journey to the present comes with lived experiences of domestic and sexual violence. From victim to powerful survivor and advocate, Stephanie shares her triumph over trauma and how to heal into success.  To find out more about Stephanie Olson and her work, visit stephanieol...

When 70’s high school lovebirds decide to go the distance in college, Shannon finds a manipulative side of her then-boyfriend. Post-breakup, in hopes of reconciliation, she visits his dorm, only to be propositioned with sex. When she says no multiple times, Shannon discovers the word doesn’t hold as much weight as she had once believed. After growing up as an Evangelical Christian, she must learn...

When a young Rachel falls for a fellow trumpeter at a concert, their meet-cute takes a violent and coercive turn. After he assaults her in her childhood bedroom, with nowhere to escape, Rachel develops a fear of being trapped; she scans each new room she enters for a second door. Once she discloses to her mother, Rachel finds a beacon of hope and comfort, bringing her out of the darkness and leadi...

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Martha Lluch has dedicated her life to creativity. Throughout the course of the years, it has become evident to her that the creative process, translates directly into how she navigates life altogether. She is currently exploring new ways to share the benefits of creativity and the design approach with others through art, yoga and her ongoing workshop: The Ar...

A favorite shirt becomes a memory of violence. A playful tickle triggers memories of shame and trauma. A shower leads to lies to family and friends. The scent of cologne incites terror and anxiety. An experience of trauma is shoved down and personally denied even as others come for succor and solace. Unconscious awareness leads to bizarre behaviors. Carly  shares her spiral into despair and the lo...

After hearing Angela's story and writing an article for the Tulane Hullabaloo, Lily shared her own story in this interview with Sandra and Katie. Her journalism focuses on sexual violence on college campuses, an experience she knows all too well. In a shift from observer to subject, she shares the trauma she experienced to bring to light the ways we are all impacted by sexual violence, and how we...

Betrayed by her best friend and shunned by the people who should have supported her the most, Karoline shares her gut-wrenching experience with violence as a young teen. Join us as we discuss her journey from abuse and isolation to self-love and acceptance.    Hosts: Claire Kaplan and Katie Koestner Editor: Craig Stanton Producer: Emily Wang

Joseph Carrabis has been everything from a long-haul trucker to a Chief Research Scientist and holds patents covering mathematics, anthropology, neuroscience, and linguistics. Now, he spends his time writing fiction based on his childhood experiences with trauma, violence, and abuse. Told in the guise of military science fiction, his novel The Augmented Man is the story of Nick Trailer, sexually a...

Leah Michelle Forney survived teenage sexual assault, abuse, and violation. Growing from a belief she wasn't worthy of sharing her story, she's become an established author, team leader at crisis response centers, and marriage and family therapist. She took her rapist to court where her victimization continued by the judge, the defense counsel, and the police. These experiences and others led her...

Tennie Eppenger survived several assaults on different occasions and decided no one else would suffer as she did. From the violation of the assaults to the violation of police interviews and beyond, she grew beyond her experiences with a determination to help others. She shares her journey and tells the story of how her trauma drove her to create the non-profit Sisterhood of Survival, Inc. (https:...

Lauren Duke rose from an life early trauma and family violence in north coastal California through self-shame, high-risk behavior, childhood rape, no self-worth, and self-blame to healing her wounds by self-discovery, awareness, and acceptance. Her story goes from full survival mode to teaching others to heal from their individual trauma. Her advice to others starts with "Reveal the grit. Tell you...

Brenda Tracy survived childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, and a gang rape by four college football players to become a mother, a registered nurse, an activist and advocate for survivors, and is known for her activism in sexual violence in sports. Now she gets men involved in sexual violence prevention on campus, does policy work, legislative work, and is the founder of the non-profit Set th...

Sisters can either be torn apart or drawn together due to sexual violence. Rutgers professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Salamishah Tillet and her sister, artist and curator Scheherazade Tillet, drew together after Salamishah shared her rape story. Together they co-founded "A Long Walk Home" to help Black women and girls share their own stories of shame, dysmorphia, injustice, recognizing trigger is...

The road from incest survivor to internationally recognized media personality took childhood sexual assault victim Angela Shelton from the North Carolina hill country to making movies, music, and speaking frankly and openly with Claire Kaplan and Katie Koestner. In this episode, Angela talks about surviving abuse, experiencing survivor guilt, the confusion of being chosen, life as an excel spreads...

"Disclosure is a process and everyone comes to their story in a different way." Writer and Activist Donna Kaz shares how she found her way to radical feminism after she was raped by a professor in college and later a victim of intimate partner violence.  Kaz talks about being a Guerrilla Girl in New York City, as well as how she came to write an award-winning memoir. Follow Her on twitter @donnaka...

Ethan is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Stockton University in Galloway, NJ. His research focuses primarily on interpersonal violence. His new book, Rape by the Numbers, explores scientists’ approaches to studying rape over more than forty years in the United States and Canada. Outside of academia, Ethan is an advocate and award-winning speaker on interpersonal violence and LGBTQ+ c...

The first time Antuan Raimone spoke out as a survivor, he had 90 seconds. But those 90 seconds were all he needed to secure funding for the sexual assault organization he was working with for the following year. In this interview, he details how he dealt with his trauma, how the theater helps him find his strength, and how he learned to acknowledge and live with fear.  PAVE Ambassador Antuan Magic...

Ava found herself isolated as a teenager away at boarding school, after the guy all the girls fought for picked her. His attention rapidly changed as Ava describes him pushing her boundaries of consent. Listen to this story that details how toxic people will make us betray our own safe spaces.  Hosts: Katie Koestner and Kavita Ajmere Editor: Jac Boothe & Craig Stanton Producers: Emily Wang and Kel...

"Because you have to see those people every day, I don't think I was ready to step into that truth." This week's guest reveals why she felt more comfortable telling strangers online what happened to her before telling her own family and friends.  Hosts: Katie Koestner and Kavita Ajmere Editor: Craig Stanton Producers: Emily Wang and Kelsey Styles

She didn't even like boys that much, but then his mom was shoving sheet music in her hand and suggesting a couple's duet at the Christmas service. This story may have the most recent timeline of all we've heard - it was the pandemic that got this survivor out of an abusive relationship. The wounds are fresh and the scars still heal.  Hosts: Katie Koestner and Claire Kaplan Editors: Jac Boothe and...