Sarah Williams
Sarah Williams was born in South Korea and adopted to the U.S. at nine months old into a Christian household. Growing up, she would always go to church, attend Sunday school, and read the Bible. When she was eight or nine years old, she read the story of Tamar in the Bible and saw her life being reflected right at her. A family member was sexually abusing her. Disclosing the abuse to the family meant it would disrupt the family dynamic – something she couldn’t do because she felt indebted to her family for adopting her. So she remained silent.
She revisited the story of Tamar in college and realized silence isn’t the answer. Sarah slowly disclosed her story to close friends and went to therapy to work on unlearning the harmful narratives she internalized throughout her life. By sharing her story, Sarah wants people to know that silence cannot continue to be the historical legacy and can be broken in whatever time, way, and capacity a person has.
Resources:
RAINN: https://rainn.org/
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE(4673)
KAFSC: https://www.kafsc.org/
WOMANKIND: https://www.iamwomankind.org/
Thank you to Asian Women Giving Circle for funding this critical project
Special Thanks To: St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church of NYC LeeHwa Wedding and Hanbok