Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1376

Tonight's special guest is Laura LeMoon from Seattle, Washington, a survivor and activist. "My childhood abuses were multiple and chronic," says Laura. "I began to be abused at age 3 which left me vulnerable to repeating this trauma in my adulthood through extremely unhealthy relationships." NAASCA knows that the consequences of childhood trauma don't "stop" just because one turns 18. They may, in fact, worsen, exacerbated by the fact that we have the ability to make adult, albeit "bad", choices. Laura explains, "My healing journey has taken me to the brink of total self annihilation - prostitution, alcoholism and drug addiction, rehab, psychiatric hospitals and attempted suicides." But she managed to turn her life around. Laura is currently Ethnographer for a national HIV study at Seattle Public Health and Case Manager at Attain Housing. She's a research specialist and Sex Worker empowerment organizer specializing in using research as a tool to advocate for stigmatized populations, reducing harm to IVDA's and Sex Workers. Laura works on Sex Workers' rights and violence prevention within sex working communities, and LGBTQ advocacy, most strongly within sex working communities affected by violence. "Today and for the future, my goals are to not continue to takeover and occupy the role of the abuser in the war I wage against myself," Laura says. "I don't have all the answers. Just one day at a time."