@nate_postlethwt In a situation my father tried to mediate on behalf of the child victims, it was because the abuser was the parents’ fellow missionary. Their shared cause was more important than the children. “We believe our girls, but we forgive him. End of story.”

@914Ann My abuser “cried and confessed” but later, when some consequences started to affect him, he told my parents’ missionary colleagues that I had seduced him. I was nine when he molested me in 1957. This is a story as old as time. @ThingsFellApart

@peteesaunders @SteubSurvivors I think there are two reasons why: 1) Describing the abuse as historical minimizes it. If it happened long ago, who can say that it happened at all? 2) "Historical abuse" also subtly shifts blame on the victim. If it happened so long ago, why is the victim bringing it up now?

@nate_postlethwt In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when I was nine and ten, my parents documented their efforts to have my sexual abuser held accountable. They kept those documents as proof. No one can say that my story is a "He said, she said," scenario. For this, I thank God. @ThingsFellApart

@EnoughLight It's easy to think that high-functioning people don't need recognition or appreciation. They too need words of encouragement. Thanks for this reminder.

@bozlawpa When outward success is the top priority, anything that stands in the way (including righteousness) is shut out. It's the age-old conflict between the priests and the prophets - and you know how they treated the prophets. @ThingsFellApart

This is the correct link to the review of my MK memoir:

@mk_safety In case you haven't read my MK memoir, this is an excellent summary of what it is about.

@ThingsFellApart Laura Martin,@EnoughLight, posted a review of my memoir. She summarized it very well & noticed some of the things I tried to do - like telling it from a child's perspective and creating a story arc rather than just stringing incidents together. THANK YOU, Laura!

Laura Martin, @EnoughLight, posted a review of my memoir. She summarized it very well and noticed some of the things I tried to do - like telling it from a child's perspective and creating a story arc rather than just stringing incidents together. THANK YOU, Laura!

@EnoughLight I don't spend a lot of time on Twitter, but I check it almost daily. Thank you so much for your review of my memoir. It is a great summary of the book and you picked up on some of the things I tried to do - like telling it from a child's perspective and having it "flow."

@marcinca3 Thanks, Marcinca3. I'd love to hear from you when you finish reading it.

@nate_postlethwt This extends to created family settings as well. In mission settings, kids called their parents’ colleagues “aunt” and “uncle”. At boarding school the adults’ scapegoats were also bullied by the kids - reassuring everyone that they, not the system, were the problem.

@wartwatch If that's the punishment for women who falsely accuse men, what's the punishment for men (and even entire organizations) who lie and cover up their buddies' sexual crimes against women and children? I'll bet there are far more of them out there than women who make false claims.

@sarahk330 Yikes! That would be a shock.

@reb_hopkins @bozlawpa This past weekend, MK Safety Net celebrated 25 years of addressing abuse in mission settings like you describe here. Missions know, but they refuse to change. It's the same old, same old a quarter of a century after we first blew the whistle. @mk_safety

@carrieeorton If it’s high fives, why are the two people wearing the same shirt?

It takes courage to speak truth to power. Silence in response is a tactic institutions use to 1) minimize victims' concerns and 2) shut down further dialogue . Thank you, Rebecca, for exposing THAT too.

@reb_hopkins @GTacoTacoTaco You are welcome! Silence communicates that survivors are invisible or are unworthy of a response. It also contains the story, keeping it from spreading among the groups' members and donors. Win-win for the powerful. Devastating to those trying to tell the truth. @ThingsFellApart

@Virginia_Brasch I had a student like this. He was fascinated with languages from early childhood. Took Spanish, French and Latin in high school and enrolled in a special program to learn Chinese as a high school junior. Got a degree in Chinese. Lives and works in China now, full time.