Angela Williams is the founder of Angela’s Voice and has dedicated her life to breaking the silence and cycle of child sexual abuse through awareness, prevention and healing.

Angela’s shares her powerful story of 14 years of sexual abuse, the long journey to healing and now her passion to protect the next generation of children.

Video Transcript:

Angela Williams: This is an issue whose time has come.

Narrator: In her book, From Sorrows to Sapphires, Angela tells the courageous story of her journey to freedom from incest. She shares what others should know to break the silence and stop the cycle of child sexual abuse.

Angela Williams: We will not tolerate the these horrific crimes against our children. We must unite as a nation and we must unite as a world.

Angela Williams: Our entire society needs to understand that this is a trauma that children just don’t forget about it and don't get over it.

Angela Williams: This is a profound hurt that lasts a lifetime, that you just don't erase from your memories.

Angela Williams: The center for Disease Control says that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they’re 18 years old.

Angela Williams: 93% of the time, it's someone the child knows, the child loves, and the child trusts.

Angela Williams: Our society wants to have one talk at puberty, and it's too late about the conversation of sexual abuse.

Angela Williams: We want to look for a change in behavior in the child that we cannot explain.

Angela Williams: We tend to be living in this arrogance, that it's not going to happen in my home, on my street.

Angela Williams: And we have to step into a place of responsibility and of courage, and begin to look at this very complex problem and how are we going to prevent it?

Angela Williams: And you adults, I want to tell you that it is your responsibility when a child discloses to you, to get that child help.

Angela Williams: Yeah. And who do we run to? Someone we trust.

Angela Williams: Survivors need a nurturing and compassionate society to help them heal. Our society wants, really, survivors to go behind closed doors for an hour a week with a therapist and heal.

And we need to heal in community.

Angela Williams: We must have the courage to speak, to be able to give our children the courage to speak.

Angela Williams: They are so afraid and they are so ashamed and they really feel so isolated. They feel like I'm the only one that this is happening to.

Reporter: Why is this on your heart?

Angela Williams: I'm very passionate about saving the next generation of children because I suffered at the hands of my stepfather.

Angela Williams: Survivors of child sexual abuse are exposed to a tremendous amount of perversion. There's often pornography involved. You're forced to do things that in your wildest imagination you would never, ever want to do.

Angela Williams: Yes, sheer terror. You're in a minefield, not knowing when the next explosion or when the next attack will come.

Angela Williams: So survivors need a nurturing and compassionate society to help them heal.

Angela Williams: The voice today really is working so hard on awareness, prevention and healing for child sexual abuse and a movement to bring this issue into the public arena.

Angela Williams: The child never forgets. It’s a wound that takes a lifetime to recover from.