Taura Edgar, Founder of TALK Hong Kong, speaks with Beth Jones the Healing Mentor about primary prevention of child sexual abuse and how TALK got started. The lovely Beth was an early support group participant and our very first Advisor. Her early support and hard work shapes the work we do today and we’re excited to see what’s next.
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HONORING CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH
‼️‼️Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood sexual abuse and may be triggering for some listeners.
In this episode, my guest is Taura Edgar, founder of TALK Hong Kong, a charity focused on child sexual abuse prevention and supporting adult survivors. Our conversation explores Taura’s pain to purpose journey from survivor to advocate, the critical importance of prevention, and the transformative power of community healing.
TALK Hong Kong is where my journey to find my voice began. HEALing in community was an essential part of my healing journey, which led me to TALK as a support group resource and the place where I started talking, safely and outside of trauma therapy, about the abuse I have survived. As a natural-born problem-solver and someone who is an expert in prevention, I wanted to do more. So did Taura. And that began TALK’s journey to advocacy. It also started my journey to become the HEALing Mentor.
Highlights of this episode:
Founding TALK Hong Kong: Taura created TALK Hong Kong after struggling to find a support group resource that matched her specific need. Initially, her mission was to create a safe community for female survivors of sexual abuse to connect and heal. Today, the organization also provides awareness and prevention strategies as the best form of defense to reduce the prevalence of child sexual abuse.
Personal Growth and Advocacy: Taura shares her story of transmuting her suffering as an incest survivor to becoming an advocate for prevention. Along the way, she engaged with legal reform, which led her to the TEDx Tin Hau stage, where she shared the findings of her initial research on the prevalence and impact of child sexual abuse in Hong Kong.
Community Healing: Finding a community that understands your unique experiences can save your life. When you begin to heal, talking about what you’ve experienced can be overwhelming, but as you talk more, the related grief lessens. Healing and getting past the heaviness lessen as you talk more.
Prevention Strategies: A primary prevention strategy is training adults to protect children, including breaking through challenging misconceptions about sexual offenders such as the belief that offenders are strangers. The reality is that offenders are very often known to the child. Localized prevention training in the native language is essential, as much training offered globally today is in English.
Impact of Unaddressed Trauma: Unaddressed trauma is a public health crisis. The long-term effects on individual and societal levels are costly. Early intervention and support for survivors is critical to addressing the impact.
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