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.
Here at Restored Voices Collective, survivors of ACSA will find hope as we understand our stories, connect with other survivors, and reclaim our voices.
Our website will be live soon! In the meantime, we are already a thriving, supportive community including a Facebook group and regular Zoom meetings.