Church leaders in the Bay Area are being urged to do more protect their congregations from sexual abuse. In San Francisco, advocates and survivors will lead a panel discussion Saturday titled ‘Redeeming Sanctuaries,' which aims to equip church leaders with the “the tools and resources they need to promote safety in their churches and organizations,” according to the event’s website.
Freely In Hope, the nonprofit hosting the event, is primarily based in Kenya and Zambia and works to equip survivors of sexual violence with education, counseling, and other supportive services.
The panel discussion 'Redeeming Sanctuaries' will take place Saturday from 4-6pm at the Misona event space in San Francisco. Senior Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban, who is a volunteer board member of Freely In Hope, will moderate the event. To reserve a ticket or learn how to stream the event live, visit FreelyInHope.org.
“We don't call our church building sanctuaries for no reason,” said Nikole Lim, founder and international director of Freely In Hope. “They should be a place of healing and safety and wellness and community.”
Watch: Nikole Lim's decade-long journey to support survivors
We don't call our church building sanctuaries for no reason. They should be a place of healing and safety and wellness and community.
Nikole Lim, founder and international director of Freely In Hope
Lim, a Bay Area native, first learned of the prevalence of sexual violence as a documentary filmmaker abroad, but eventually chose to put down her camera in exchange for philanthropy. Lim has spent the past decade walking alongside survivors through her work with Freely In Hope.
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“In my work as a documentary filmmaker, I was traveling in and out of homes, in and out of communities, in and out of villages, capturing story after story of trauma and trauma,” Lim said. “After so many years of doing that work, it felt really insufficient and eventually unethical because I could not actually respond directly to the needs of the survivors were sharing with me.”
In addition to Lim, the panel will also include Irene Cho, a sexual abuse survivor who was profiled in a recent NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit report about the prevalence of sexual abuse in the AAPI community.
Watch: Sexual violence in AAPI rarely discussed, often unreported
Rowena Chiu, a former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, will also take part in the panel and discuss her accusations against her former employer. Jean Nangwala, a singer and staff member of Freely In Hope, will also lead the discussion and reflect on the abuse she says was inflicted on her as a 19-year-old by a leader in her church.
I was 19 when it happened in the church.
Jean Nangwala, a sexual violence survivor recounts the abuse she says was committed by a leader in her church
“I went to the other leadership in my church and said, ‘okay, so how do I go about this? Like, this person is doing this,’ and everyone was like, ‘there's no way he could do that – you probably seduced him.’ And so as a 19-year-old thinking, ‘Oh, I probably seduced this man, it was probably me -- oh, I probably instigated this,’” Nangwala said.
“I'm hoping if there's any survivor who's questioning if they are the reason and the cause of what happened to them, after hearing my story … they will realize that they're not alone and it's okay to speak up.”
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