Sexual Assault Awareness Tips: Finding Courage to Tell Your Story of Hope

How can i find the courage to tell my own story of hope?

When survivors realize that they desire healing, many ask me this question: How can I find the courage to tell my own story of hope?

1. Make the decision to tell it.

2. Think of your purpose for telling your story.

3. Attend events where other people tell their stories.

4. Tell it to yourself over and over again until you are confident.

5. When you speak, let it come from your heart.

6. Believe in your story.

7. Understand that no one can tell your story better than you.

Too often, survivors don’t have the courage to believe in their own story. They fear that their story is irrelevant, that it will be judged, or that somebody else could tell it better. I have been a victim of this for a long time until one day, I realized that every time I share, I am adding another stair as I continue to climb toward healing.

Be courageous and own your story—your story is powerful,

*Mumbi, Freely in Hope Scholar

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The butterfly hug

Try this butterfly hug exercise to center and calm yourself whenever you feel your anxiety rising. This is a helpful exercise to bring their bodies to awareness and safety. To support your mental health journey, we also have a print-out version with instructions to use for personal or organizational use. Get the download below!

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How FIH Is Strengthening the Ecosystem of Care for Survivors in Kenya

Kenya’s fight against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is far from over. Poverty, harmful cultural practices, lack of GBV awareness, lack of access to justice among others perpetuate violence in many Kenyan communities. In addition to that, survivors when seeking for help face stigma, fear and trauma not only from the violence itself but also from systems that are meant to provide protection, support and justice. Instead, the systems end up silencing them. As a result, it makes their healing difficult and the violence hidden.

Partnering with Together Women Rise to Expand Survivor-Led Child Protection in Kenya

We are proud to announce a new partnership between Freely in Hope and Together Women Rise, a global community of women and allies advancing gender equality worldwide in the Global South.
Through this partnership, Together Women Rise is investing $50,000 over two years to support the expansion of Pendo’s Power, Freely in Hope’s trauma-informed, play-based program designed to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in under-resourced communities.

How Maryanne’s Story Became Her Strength

The weight of my community’s silence was heavy. Growing up, I didn’t just witness violence; I lived in its shadow, watching as systems and customs quietly expected women to remain small, silenced, and in servitude. I saw women I admired trapped in cycles of abuse, their dignity chipped away until their dreams seemed impossible.

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