INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Lauren Book, who overcame years of physical and sexual abuse to become a nationally recognized advocate and now works to change Florida laws to better prevent abuse and help survivors to heal, stopped in Indian River County Thursday as part of her annual 1,500-mile journey across the state.
Book’s Walk in My Shoes raises awareness about child sexual abuse and advocates for change in Florida law to extend “victimless” prosecution to older children.
Book, founder of Lauren’s Kids, who endured childhood sexual abuse for six years at the hands of her nanny, launched the Walk in My Shoes campaign in 2010 to raise awareness of the issue of sexual abuse and encourage victims to speak about their experiences.
As she travels from Key West to Tallahassee during Walk in My Shoes 2013, Book will be joined by state attorneys to advocate for a change in Florida law that would make an out-of-court statement from older child victims of sexual abuse, sometimes called “victimless” prosecution, a stronger tool in trials against their alleged abusers, as contained in HB 7031.
Book is also seeking to expand the state’s existing kindergarten abuse prevention curriculum to include grades one through five, incorporating such topics as bullying and Internet safety.
In addition to drawing support for her legislative priorities, Book is using Walk in My Shoes 2013 to provide local communities with knowledge and tools they can use to better protect their children against the traps abusers set.
During each week of Book’s six-week ‘Walk,’ she will be highlighting a different aspect of child sexual abuse through speaking engagements and web videos featuring experts, survivors and a convicted child molester, which will be posted to Lauren’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LaurensKids, and website, http://laurenskids.org.
The walk throughout Florida began on March 19 in Key West and will end in Tallahassee on April 23, with a rally at the state Capitol.