No Longer a Victim

In 2002, a fourteen-year-old girl named Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her Utah bedroom at knifepoint. She was held by her captor, a Salt Lake City street preacher and panhandler, and repeatedly raped for nine long months. When she was finally discovered, rescued, and returned to her family, many wondered how she could ever reclaim her life. Had Smart chosen to retreat into a quiet, private life, few would have questioned her decision.

But Elizabeth Smart did not retreat. She faced her abuser in court and testified against him. She returned to school and finished college. She traveled to Paris on a mission for her church. She grew up, got married, and found a career that is more like a calling: she decided to use her experience to shed light on the tragic reality of human trafficking and crimes against children. She became a commentator for ABC News, offering insights into the lives of abducted children, and penned a memoir. She also became a public speaker, one who can attest to the true costs of these crimes, and who speaks as few others can about real steps that might make it harder for children to be victimized—and easier for victimized children to escape.

As a woman of faith dealing with this heinous crime and seeking to prevent others like it, Smart has had to carefully consider the ways in which some of the cultural norms that shaped her life may have impacted her ordeal. In particular, she explained how negative perceptions of premarital sex can be easily mistranslated by children who are victims of sexual abuse. Speaking at a forum on sex trafficking at Johns Hopkins University in 2013, Smart spoke about how she remembered the words of a teacher who, in advocating abstinence, had compared sexual activity to chewing gum. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that chewed up piece of gum. . . . Nobody rechews a piece of gum, you throw it away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you no longer have worth, you no longer have value,” Smart said (Dominguez, 2013). Although her own church takes care to clarify this is not the case, noting that “victims of rape, incest, or other sexual abuse are not guilty of sin,” and advising victims, “If you have been a victim of any of these crimes, know that you are innocent,” in Smart’s young mind, she was unable to get past the idea that the rape had made her worthless (Church of the Latter Day Saints Gospel Library, 2013, para. 7). As a speaker, Smart seeks to correct that misconception, advocating for more practical education for children to empower them to fight for their lives and to understand that victimization does not change how important they are. “If you’re given choices, if you’re given skills, if you’re given permission to fight back,” Smart explained, “you don’t have to do what other people tell you” (Fox News, 2013).