Support For Survivors | Sexual Abuse Survivor Legal Advocates

Boz Tchividjian, an attorney who represents sexual abuse survivors in civil courts throughout the US, takes a deeper dive into sexual abuse within faith communities. He discusses the impact the trauma of sexual abuse perpetrated by leaders and trusted advisors within a church environment has on victims and what churches can do better to protect & help their communities. This is an important conversation for everyone regardless of religion.

About Boz Tchividjian

Boz is an experienced litigator and has handled hundreds of civil and criminal cases throughout his career. He is a former Assistant State Attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida where he created the first Sex Crimes Division at the Office of the State Attorney and served as the Division Chief. Boz is also the Founder and former Executive Director of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), a nonprofit organization that provides faith-based institutions with the tools they need to correctly respond to allegations of sexual abuse and educates them on how to create safeguards to protect children and vulnerable people within their communities.

Twitter: @BozT

Twitter: @Netgrace_org

Survivor Series: Arlette. Arlette was sexually abused as a child and talks about how she went from victim to survivor to thriver. She shares important aspects of her healing journey and discusses the similarities between physical healing and mental healing. Arlette writes about this process and draws parallels to how broken bones heal in her book There’s More Beyond Surviving – Journey to Life. She is also the host of the Journey to Life podcast. Below are links to resources she has created to share her story and help others. 

Guest- Arlette Jones-Lawson

Book:

There's More Beyond Surviving - Journey to Life

Podcast:

Journey to Life Podcast link to YouTube channel 

Courtney Curtis, Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, talks about several new laws that will be added to Indiana books to help victims of rape and other violent crimes. Courtney shares how legislators worked together to pass HB1079 “Elements of Rape Bill” and discusses how the language in the soon-to-be new law will help victims seeking justice. She also talks about the important role that each of us play in sharing our voice with our legislators and providing them with the information they need in order to craft legislation that can better protect us and our families. 

Guest- Courtney Curtis

Hear from Kelly, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and advocate. Kelly grew up as a child of Christian missionaries who served all over the world. She shares the story of her abuse and healing but also speaks about her work in helping other victims of sexual abuse within the church. Kelly created a podcast called Survivor Sanctuary and regularly examines issues that many survivors of sexual abuse face. She talks about the responsibility that adults and faith leaders have in protecting children from sexual predators. Her podcast can be found at the link below or wherever you regularly tune in to your favorite podcasts.  

Guest- Kelly Downing

Survivor Sanctuary podcast

Hear from Lee Buckingham, Prosecuting Attorney for Hamilton County, about the work that Lee’s office has done to support public safety efforts and serve its residents.

Lee joined the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in 1995 as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and has spent the bulk of his first 16 years with the office handling major felony cases from financial and property crimes to violent offenses like rape, child molesting, burglary, robbery, and murder. 

Since 2011 Lee has been leading the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorneys Office as the elected Prosecuting Attorney. The population has grown from approximately 274,000 to over 350,000 today. Despite the monumental growth and change, one thing has not changed. Hamilton County has remained a wonderful and very safe place to live, often ranked as one of the top places in the nation to live.

Guest- D. Lee Buckingham II, Hamilton County Prosecutor

Survivor Story: Tenita, a survivor of sexual abuse, has truly moved from survivor to thriver. Tenita Johnson is a 15x best-selling author, speaker and mentor to both men and women who have suffered from sexual abuse. She has a passion for helping others and believes in the power of storytelling to heal and help others on their healing journey. Not only is she a survivor of sexual abuse but she is an advocate for others who have suffered the trauma of sexual abuse. Her recent book, HUSH: Breaking the Cycle of Silence Around Sexual Abuse is an anthology that features eight women who lost their innocence and identity to life-altering trauma.

Guest- Tenita Johnson

Twitter: @TenitaJEditor

FB: Tenita “Bestseller” Johnson

www.tenitajohnson.com

Thank you for listening to another season of Support For Survivors. We will be back in a few weeks with more great interviews with advocates and survivors. Please feel free to leave suggestions for future guests or questions at SupportForSurvivors.com

Erin talks about her life as a “faculty kid” on the campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina and the sexual assault she suffered by an older classmate while she was a resident and student of the university. Erin describes the culture at Bob Jones University as strict and controlling and talks about how that culture had a negative impact on her search for justice after her assault.

A two-year investigation into the way reports of sexual assault were handled by Bob Jones University was conducted by the non-profit Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) . The GRACE Report included findings from its investigation and recommendations for the university to improve its response to reports of sexual abuse and assault including proper reporting to law enforcement.

Listen with care as Erin talks about her personal journey of healing from sexual trauma and how she is working to help other survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Host- Shaunestte Terrell

Guest- Erin

Our popular Survivor Series is back. This episode features Ayanda. She is a sexual abuse survivor living in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ayanda has written two books They Raped Me Now What and Life After Rape. She is also the founder of Thriver: Healing from Within, a trauma-informed yoga initiative and is an acclaimed motivational speaker.

Host- Shaunestte Terrell

Guest- Ayanda Ngema

We continue our survivor series with Rolf. Rolf was sexually abused when he was a young boy by his father. He talks about the impact this abuse had on his life and how he gained the courage to confront his father about the abuse later in life.

Warning: This episode may be triggering to some people. Please listen with care.

Host- Shaunestte Terrell

Guest- Rolf