Advocate pitches ‘Erin’s Law’ on sex-abuse education
JACKSON Miss (USA TODAY) — A woman who was sexually abused as a child is on a 50-state mission to urge lawmakers to make education about child sex abuse part of schools’ curriculum.
For 2½ years beginning at age 6, a neighbor raped Erin Merryn, now 27, of Schaumburg, Ill. A teenage cousin started molesting her when she was 11. Now, she’s the force behind “Erin’s Law” legislation, which her home state enacted earlier this month.
“I never had to run out of a burning building and I knew how to say no to drugs when I was approached in high school, but when two men were molesting and raping me I didn’t know what to do so I stayed silent,” Merryn said last week. “I don’t want another child to face years of rape and abuse like I did. I want them to be able to have a voice and know to tell and not keep it a secret.”
