About Us

Who are we?

We are a group of women who were each sexually abused by a person with spiritual authority who had the fiduciary duty to care for us. They used the power inherent in that role to exploit our vulnerabilities in order to gain access to us. This is called Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse (ACSA).

In the wake of this betrayal trauma, many of us have suffered secondary abuse when the institutions that were supposed to protect us instead blamed us, silenced us, and abandoned us. In many cases, we experienced additional harm when those closest to us did not acknowledge our experience.

How did we come to exist?

Restored Voices collective (RVC) had its unofficial beginnings when a small group of us met on Zoom to share our stories and support each other in healing after having experienced ACSA. Each of us found that meeting together was incredibly beneficial. Forming relationships with other survivors helped us process what had happened, accelerated our healing, and gave us a voice to break the silence on this type of abuse. 

Are we affiliated with any other organizations?

RVC is a non-profit organization that operates independently of other organizations and individuals. Although we may notify members of resources and opportunities from other sources, we will not officially align ourselves with others.

Because the vast majority of ACSA victims have experienced secondary abuse when religious institutions blamed them for the initial abuse, we maintain our independence so that survivors know we value them and their safety, not power and influence.