Lauren Book-Lim continued her journey to raise awareness of sexual abuse on Wednesday, as she walked her way through Tampa as part of her 1,000-mile journey across the state of Florida that will end in Tallahassee later this month with a rally to support pending legislation.
That would be SB 488, The Walk In Your Shoes Act, sponsored in the state Senate by New Port Richey Republican Mike Fasano, and passed in the Criminal Justice Committee 5-0 last week. The bill would enhance the Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund, admitting evidence of prior sexual crimes, providing re-location assistance for victims of sexual crimes, and more.
Book-Lim began her 39-day walk in Key West on March 19, and will conclude it on April 26 in the state capitol, where she help host a rally on the bill’s benefits. On Wednesday morning she visited the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the Alpha House in Tampa.
Book-Lim is not hesitant to discuss the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a nanny in her own home as a young girl from the age of 10 through 16, saying she was molested “365 days a year, 7 days a week, no time off, no breaks.” She says this happened in the supposed safety of her home under the watch of her caring parents (her father is uber Tallahassee lobbyist Ron Book). “That’s part of my message,” she said, speaking to CL while walking on foot on a rare cool morning in Tampa. “It’s okay to talk, to educate parents and promote that awareness and education because 95% of sexual abuse is preventable.”
Lauren Book-Lim has her own advocacy group, Lauren’s Kids, that she created in 2002.
Local advocates also want Tampa area citizens to know that Take Back the Night takes place a week from this Saturday, April 16 in Hyde Park Village. (April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.)
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2011.
