Milford woman, appearing on The Dr. Oz Show, gives sex assault victims hope

By Zachary Comeau
Wicked Local Braintree
November 27, 2016

http://braintree.wickedlocal.com/news/20161127/milford-woman-appearing-on-dr-oz-show-gives-sex-assault-victims-hope

Barbara Hansen waited 40 years to tell her story of sexual assault and violence, but is now doing so on a global scale.

The Milford author of “Listen to the Cry of the Child: The Deafening Silence of Sexual Abuse,” now speaks about sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather and later a pastor at a religious camp, all of which is detailed in her book.

Since 1999, Hansen has gone public about her story, which she kept under wraps for almost 40 years.

Just recently, she appeared on "The Dr. Oz Show" alongside 19 other victims of sexual and domestic violence.

The episode is scheduled to be aired Dec. 13, but Hansen has been telling her story in hopes that it will inspire others to eradicate the abuse in their lives.

The abuse at the hands of her grandfather and pastor, she said, “shook (her) to the core.”

She bottled those feelings up for most of her life, resulting in severe psychological and even some physical ailments.

“It led to much shame,” she said.

This shame and blame translated into her marriage, which she said was at one point, on thin ice.

Her “freedom day,” she said, came after watching Oprah in 1998 when she finally told her mother what her grandfather had done to her as a child.

At that time, she opened her house to drug addicts and ex-cons in hopes of giving them a second chance to get back on their feet, but she realized she first had to deal with the 40 years of silence.

She visited the campground where she was abused and spoke with old friends whom she also suspected were abused. She was right.

She contacted church officials who conducted a “church-run trial,” which ultimately ended with the pastor's ministerial license being taken away.

Hansen says she chose to forgive the pastor and “felt more free” in doing so. Seven weeks later, that same pastor fell down a flight of stairs and died.

During the trial, a different clergy member told the abusive pastor to “listen to the cry of the children.”

Hansen latched onto that phrase and titled her book with it.

She now leads a support group for sexual assault victims and works to promote her book and message of breaking the silence that often follows such crimes.

From Feb. 1 to April 1, Hansen will travel around the Philippines spreading her message, visiting churches, schools, universities and prisons to help rescue victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking.

“You’ll never find peace until you find all the pieces,” she said. “I found hope and I hope to give it back to others now."