Community Corner

Abuse Survivor Starts Summit Support Group

Sharon R. Wells, a sex abuse survive begins weekly discussion group tonight at Summit Oaks Hospital.

For Sharon Wells helping people deal with a painful past has become part of her life’s work. A victim and survivor of child sexual abuse, Wells has become an advocate over the past decade for adults who want to open up about sex abuse in their lives.

With the recent child sex abuse scandal that rocked the Penn State football program, the issue has been at the media forefront. In New Jersey, legislation has been introduced that would give child sex abuse victims more time to confront their abusers in court. Just last week the state Assembly Judiciary Committee approved a bill that removes the two-year statute of limitations on lawsuits for child sex abuse claims.

“I am seeing that more and more people are truly in pain from being sexually abused,” Wells said. “We have to get society to realize how devastating the pain is, and victims need to know that there's help available for them.”

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According to the Administration for Children and Families, “Child Maltreatment” report, there were 980 cases of child sexual abuse reported in N.J. in 2010. Nationwide, 63,527 incidents of child sex abuse were reported.

“Victims suffer in silence and I am the voice for the voiceless,” said Wells who self-published a book “Without Permission: A Spiritual Journey of Healing,” after seeking help at and in Summit.

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“It just takes someone to open and share their story to give victims the hope they need to break their silence,” said Wells.

Through her Angel Wings Bridge Foundation, which she started over the summer, Wells will begin a sexual abuse support group for women at Summit Oaks Hospital starting on Tuesday.

Wells said the group will be structured as an open discussion about topics related to sexual abuse and invites sexual abuse survivors or family members who have been affected by abuse to join.

“I wanted to be the one to offer the help. Having been a victim I understand the pain and the suffering.”

 

The women’s sexual abuse support group meets every Tuesday from 7:30pm to 9pm at Summit Oaks Hospital cafeteria, 19 Prospect Street in Summit.


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