I've been active with Welcome to Barbados and Pandora's Aquarium (message board, chat room, and online support for rape and sexual abuse survivors) for most of my adult life, having started this work when I was 19 in 1999. I am a survivor of an acquaintance rape, and I don't want any survivor to feel as alone as I did when I began healing. I am a trained domestic violence and rape advocate and an active rape awareness and education speaker.  I first spoke out when I appeared on 20/20 in 1999, and I am a member of RAINN's Speaker's Bureau and was selected to be part of TEAM SOAR.  I provide interviews to the media, speeches to schools and organizations, and violence prevention and education training.  You can contact me at shannon[at]pandys.org for more information.

I received my BA in 2001 with a triple major in psychology, human services, and women's studies. I then spent a year traveling, studying, and working on a development project in India before returning to the states to attend law school. I was lucky enough to marry the love of my life in 2005, the same year that I graduated law school and passed the horrendous bar exam. I am now an attorney practicing in the Midwestern U.S.

 

I have two yetis I call cats, and an epileptic beagle who runs agility trials (I volunteer for BREW Midwest, a beagle rescue).  I love spring, politics, a good sense of humor, cooking (check out smittenkitchen.com for inspiration), mojitos, and travel. I dislike bad grammar, ignorance, war, and mosquitoes. My heroes are the late Senator Paul Wellstone and Sheila Wellstone, and if I can have a fraction of the positive influence on the world that they had, I will be thankful.

 

What I want rape and sexual abuse survivors to know is that it does get better.  The pain you feel might be intense, and you may have difficulty coping with even small, normals aspects of life for awhile.  But it will end, and you will heal.  For supporters and passersby, please know that rape and sexual abuse survivors are real people:  we are your sister or brother, spouse, co-worker, friend, or the stranger you pass on the street.  Though we have been hurt, we are not damaged.  Please believe us; that is the most important thing you can do.

 

   

(with Tori Amos in 2002)

 

 

 

For real-time help from other survivors, please join Pandora's Aquarium, an online support group, message board,

and chat room for rape, sexual abuse, and sexual assault victims.

e-mail me