Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2513

Tonight's special guest is Michael Skinner, a returning NAASCA family member from New Hampshire. Michael is an award-winning advocate survivor. Michael's non-profit, 'The Surviving Spirit', offers a monthly newsletter addressing the issues of trauma, abuse and mental health concerns, public speaking and his music. He notes that these cover a wide variety of issues. "We want to extend our invite to their loved ones, friends, co-workers and to the greater public," he says, "to help create awareness on how those health issues affect all of us." Michael has spoken at the National Press Club, the UN, The State Dept and Georgetown University on the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children and adults and he has appeared on many TV, radio and Internet shows - he was part of the Oprah Winfrey Shows that addressed the issues of males sexually abused as children. Michael wrote a chapter in the recently published book, "Our Encounters With Suicide". His chapter's titled, "The Silence of Suicide.“ The collection brings together a range of voices on the theme of suicide - those who have been suicidal, alongside the friends, family and staff who have lived and worked with them. Too often the rhetoric of ‘suicidology’ is occupied only by those who have never had personal experience of suicidality. The first-person voice is strangely absent. These frank accounts go some way to correcting the balance. See Michael on YouTube in "Brush Away Your Tears".