Story by Elizabeth Anderson
One of the ways Liliana, a mother who was abused at church when she was young, bolsters her children so they don’t become prey “is to give them agency, confidence…that they are in charge of their bodies.” She has explained to her three daughters that they don’t have to hug anyone at church if they don’t want. “When they are toddlers and little children, hugging brother so-and-so is not an issue, right? But once they become 12 and 14, those hugs can become very uncomfortable…maybe not because brother so-and-so is a predator but because I am 14 and I don’t want to smash my breasts against this old man,” Liliana says.
