Lisa Michelle: Sexual Assault Survivor Turned Activist

by EMMA JIMENEZ

The trauma of being sexually assaulted can leave someone feeling scared, ashamed, and plagued with recurring and upsetting memories that can often last a lifetime. It is unfortunate that sexual violence continues to be prevalent in this country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that nearly one in five women in the U.S. have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, often by someone they know and trust.

Sexual assault is a dehumanizing act of violence perpetrated by one human being on another. After such a traumatic experience, it takes survivors years to regain their sense of control, rebuild their self-worth, and learn to heal. Although most survivors choose to stay silent, there are a few who choose to take a public stand, share their story, and challenge others to rise above the pain.

Lisa Michelle’s Story

Lisa Michelle is the social media entrepreneur behind the beauty brand Lily & Co., which provides funding to safe houses globally through the sale of products handcrafted by sexual assault survivors. She is the founder and executive director of No Strings Attached Ministries, a nonprofit that exists to guide sexually exploited women and children into healing through intervention, prevention, and outreach. No Strings Attached Ministries also offers aftercare to women and children on a consistent basis. Lisa Michelle is also an ordained minister under the Patricia King Ministries and has dedicated her life to healing the sexually exploited, bringing awareness to sexual assault and abuse, and opposing human trafficking.

Lisa Michelle is a survivor of sexual abuse and exploitation. She was sexually abused by her biological father and trafficked by a well-respected businessman who ran a funeral home in the neighborhood where she grew up. As a survivor, she knows firsthand how overwhelming it is for most survivors of sexual abuse to ask for help. Lisa Michelle ministers to young women in the sex industry (mostly strip clubs in the San Antonio area) to remind them of their self-worth and potential in the hope that they will voluntarily leave the sex industry. She also works with various other nonprofits dedicated to rescuing women and children from human trafficking.

As an advocate, Lisa Michelle encourages those who have been victimized to speak their truth to end the false sense of shame that many carry with them. She has dedicated her life to sharing her own story in the hope that it will help other survivors rise above the abuse they have endured. To Lisa Michelle, staying silent only reinforces and elevates victimhood. Ministering to young women in the sex industry about their self-worth and partnering with other nonprofit organizations fighting to combat human trafficking has allowed her to redirect the rage she once felt toward her abusers.

Facing Her Abuser

Lisa Michelle recalls standing by the side of her father’s hospital bed and no longer feeling afraid and helpless in front of the man who had once tormented her. She now saw a powerless man who she felt was still worthy of God’s grace and salvation.

“I’m often asked how can I choose to forgive someone who hurt me so deeply? The answer is simple; forgiving my father that day as he laid in the hospital bed was the only way I could continue to truly move forward with my life,” Lisa Michelle stated.

Lisa Michelle shared with Politifix News that she has not only chosen to forgive her two abusers, but she has also allowed herself to not be consumed by hate.

“I was once focused solely on survival and self-preservation. Learning to forgive the men who hurt me freed me from the rage that was once consuming me,” stated Lisa Michelle.

Forgiveness in no shape or form justifies the wrongdoing one human being does to another, but it can clear someone’s outlook in life. Lisa Michelle is living proof of that. Her story is one of hope, undying faith, and the power of forgiveness and redemption. Whereas some choose to let their pain consume them, others choose to let their pain transform them into something greater.

//pf