Episode 35: #SurvivorStories Series with Maria Santiago

On today’s show, our guest is Maria Santiago, a survivor of childhood domestic violence or family violence, a protective parent, and a decades long advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence. Maria is employed as a violence prevention educator in a NYC non-profit organization and works on elder justice reform in the Latino community as well on behalf of victims in the immigrant community. Maria is also recognized for her role as a founding member of NYC’s Voices of Women Organizing Project and for her capacity-building trainings to the NYC Administration for Children’s Services and to their contracted preventive agencies. Maria brings to us a perspective of domestic violence on children, the cycle of abuse, and how advocacy can be a vital part of the survivor’s journey towards healing.

After the interview, Maria and I discussed her use of the word "hoe" as a slut-shaming tactic. She would like to express her regret for using that term. Throughout our conversation, Maria interweaves #abusertactics, #signsofabuse, and #upstandertips.

During the interview, our conversation referenced the following resources:

• NYS's Statute of Limitations (SOL) on Child Sexual Abuse. Since the interview, NYS has passed the Child Victim's Act, extending the SOL on child sexual abuse crimes to age 28 in criminal cases, and 50 in civil cases. Under the previous law, once a sex abuse victim turns 18, he or she has five years to report the crime to law enforcement officials.
• Eve Ensler's "A Letter to White Women Who Support Brett Kavanaugh" on her own child sexual abuse
• bell hook's All About Love

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