SexualAbuseAwareness

That is the thing that always comes up, infringing on the rights of the parents. I want to pass a child rights act that would give basic human rights to each child. They would have the right to receive age appropriate sexual abuse prevention education, and every school teacher whether licenced or unlicensed would need to take mandated reporter training and be held accountable to report suspected child abuse. Right now unlicensed teachers like Amish and Mennonites are not required to take any training at all. Religious freedom should not outweigh basic human rights to safety, but right now in the USA it does.

I had a lady take me in. She gave me a job at her furniture store. I was afraid of everything that made noise, the vacuum cleaner, the hairdryer. I was in shock for a few months. The outside world was like a different planet.

I was the bishops maid, he sexually assaulted me every day for six months. I was quiet, didn't want to ruin my reputation until I caught him in the basement with his daughter. I went to the police.

Adjusting to the outside was very scary. It took a couple years. I was 22

Pretty much like your situation. I am shunned and have no contact with anyone except my sister who still Amish. She is married and has three children. We write a few times a year but we do not really know each other anymore. I have not seen her for 12 years. I hope to go visit this fall. I am allowed to stay for the day but am not allowed to eat at the same table with her or any other church member. She is not allowed to touch me or take anything that I hand I hand her. Probably the same among the Hutterites.

The photographs are from when I was living with my mother before I joined the Amish. We did not take photographs but the state was coming to check on us and my mother had given them a fake address, she was also afraid that if they found us we would be questioned and they would be in trouble. So they decided to take the photographs and give them to the caseworker. It worked, they never discovered that my mother had been giving them a fake address. She told them that it was against our religion to have government officials in our house. Whenever you inject religion into the equation it is easy to get away with things.