I think we can all agree that no one wants to talk about this.

We shouldn’t need to. I once thought that we were all clear on this: that force, coercion, and sex with kids is wrong in any form and for any reason. Shockingly, we humans are not all of the same understanding. There is literally a book for sale on Amazon right now advocating sex with children. Cue puke response. Some people not only accept pedophilia but promote it as OK. No, no, and no.

I am kinda obsessed with Advocacy. Preventing pedophiles from victimizing our children is kind of a big deal. But there’s something deeper we need to look at first.

Ok, wait… Come back… Before you peg me as some kind of fanatic or angry female you need to understand that this is not my idea of a picnic either. I don’t hate anybody. I believe most people are good and all are worthy of love. I like laughing at myself and doing my hair funny…oh, and saying “poop” so other people will laugh too.

I didn’t enlist in the #metoo movement, I was drafted. But I’m here now and I intend to stay. In fact, I have a book coming out this month on advocacy.  Not on how to be an advocate, but on overcoming sexual abuse, which I did, along with the many others whose stories help fill the pages of my book with healing and hope.

I raised my voice when I saw that it was no longer fair to remain silent.

This is so much more than another war over gender equality. Not only can our society, not all agree that pedophilia is unacceptable, we have somehow labeled the #metoo movement as a girls and women issue. Not just girls and women are at risk here; it is boys and men too. It’s not a gender issue, it’s about consent. In the eyes of the law – and decent people everywhere – children cannot give consent to such adult acts, and such an intimate part of adult lives should never be a matter of indoctrination, grooming, manipulation or abuse.

When we degrade others, we degrade ourselves.

As a society, as a group of adults, we need to look closely at the causes of abuse and our role in the solution. We need to look at what each of us can do to stop the cycle where victims become abusers. We need to fight the creeping societal tolerance of, “Oh, well. It is what it is.”

This is what I believe:

  • Advocacy is a step beyond surviving being victimized.
  • We are more than the events of our lives no matter how hideous.
  • We can and should move beyond being victims.
  • No matter how much damage the choices of others have brought us, we can be liberated from shame to living a life of advocating.
  • True advocacy is not done with anger, but with hope and love.
  • An advocate is someone who has been there, overcome and now lifts others up.

Do you believe that too?

My book, Love Me Too (hyperlinked), is not only a roadmap of how I overcame and have a great fulfilling life. It is my hope to start a new conversation. A conversation about how to move forward with love and hope.

I hope you’ll join me. (Just click the link below to grab your copy.)

Sincerely,

Leta (a.k.a. Hotness)