Courageous!
Elizabeth Smart on why teaching “abstinence only” isn’t such a great idea
Doubtless you have heard of Elizabeth Smart, who in 2003 was famously rescued from a dangerous, polygamist abductor-rapist-nutcase. (News of her rescue was what prompted the Vogue magazine to feature Joanne and her family in the wake of their own departure from the polygamist cult in Manti.)
After the ordeal, Smart returned to and served as a missionary for the mainstream Mormon Church. Actively participating Mormons are discouraged from contradicting the church’s official stances. This makes her recent statements at Johns Hopkins all the more courageous.
Smart suggested that human trafficking victims may not run away if they have been raised in conservative cultures that push abstinence-only education and emphasize sexual purity because they may feel worthless after being raped.
We cheer Ms. Smart’s insight and courage. To read more about her presentation as reported in ThinkProgress.org, click here.
After the ordeal, Smart returned to and served as a missionary for the mainstream Mormon Church. Actively participating Mormons are discouraged from contradicting the church’s official stances. This makes her recent statements at Johns Hopkins all the more courageous.
Smart suggested that human trafficking victims may not run away if they have been raised in conservative cultures that push abstinence-only education and emphasize sexual purity because they may feel worthless after being raped.
We cheer Ms. Smart’s insight and courage. To read more about her presentation as reported in ThinkProgress.org, click here.
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