Elizabeth Smart Shares Her Story and Message at Conference
SANDY, UTAH – APRIL 25, 2015 – (GEPHARDT DAILY) – Elizabeth Smart came to share a message with others about being a victim of sexual assault and to urge others to stand up for a problem that “can happen to anyone.”
Smart, the main guest speaker at the Be Fearless Conference held at SLCC Miller Campus Saturday night, has dedicated her life to urging others to become aware and to educate themselves on the facts and the myths of sexual assault.
“I was that girl, I was the innocent wallflower who felt that I would never be a target. I didn’t dress inappropriately, didn’t go out late at night, I didn’t do anything that I thought would put me in danger,” she said. “After all that’s what we believe as a society is that only those types of girls get hurt isn’t it?”
“The main question I get asked all the time is, why didn’t you run, why didn’t you do something and why didn’t you tell the truth when asked who you were?” said Smart. “I understand that as human beings we are curious however when I hear someone say why didn’t you do something, I, like other survivors hear that it’s our fault, that we should have done something and it must have not been as bad as you say or you would have tried harder to get away.” Smart’s message is that it’s time to stop the victim blaming and to start doing something about the perceptions we have that we ourselves could never fall victim to assault.
Smart shared her story of being kidnapped and held against her will after her abductors took her from her Salt Lake City home in 2002 at the age of 14. She said she was repeatedly raped and abused for nine months before being rescued by police in 2003. “This man held a knife to my throat and told me if I didn’t do what he said, he would kill me or my family,” she said. “He took me up the hill behind my house and over the mountain. When we arrived at a ‘campsite’ he had built, this woman came out from hiding under a makeshift tent and made me immediately take my clothes off and put on a robe. That night my abductor, said a lot of things to me, but there is only one sentence I remember.” She said he told her she was now his wife and it was time to consummate the marriage. “He put me on the ground and he raped me and when it was over, I remember feeling so utterly broken. Like my soul had just been ripped out,” she said.
She wants others to know it was her choice not to allow what she went through to change her for the worse. She said she knew if she allowed what they did to her to change her for the worse, they would win. “My mom told me to forget about them, to put them in the past and go on and become happy,” she said. “To live my life the way I wanted it and that would be the best way to get back at them.” She says her mom also taught her that what happened to her does not define her, and how she chooses to get through this can determine her future.
Since her capture she has gone on to graduate from BYU, go on a mission and get married. She has become an advocate for change related to child abduction, recovery programs and national legislation and founded the “Elizabeth Smart Foundation” where she promotes The National AMBER Alert, The Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act and other safety legislation to help prevent abductions. Her story and her continued road to recovery continues to motivate parents of missing children, law enforcement and leaders worldwide to focus on children’s safety.
Smart’s New York Times best-selling book, “My Story,” was also available at the conference for those wishing to meet her and get a copy of her book signed.
The conference, emceed by ABC 4’s Kim Fischer and organized by Fearless Self Defense, served as a fundraiser for the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault (UCASA) and The General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Utah (GFWC). They had two other speakers Martin Liccardo a University of Utah Graduate with a degree in Women’s Gender Studies who focuses on primary prevention, by-stander intervention, males’ responsibility, and victim blaming, and Shayne Chance, a women’s self-defense speaker, trainer and coach who talks about risk reduction and setting boundaries.
For more information on The Elizabeth Smart Foundation visit their website.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault visit UCASA’s website for information on how to get help.
