Aly Raisman is one of more than 200 survivors of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics’ team doctor Larry Nassar. In her recent documentary, Darkness to Light, which premiered on Lifetime on September 24th, Aly explores her journey and finds a path to healing after her experience with sexual abuse. Throughout the three-hour special, Raisman solicits advice from other sexual abuse advocates, like #metoo movement founder Tarana Burke, who counsels the retired gymnast to make sure she looks after her own mental health as she embarks on the journey to speak with other survivors. As she sits down with other survivors who were sexually abused by trusted members of the community as children, and breaks through the walls of fear, intimidation, ignorance and prejudice that keep such abuse in the dark, Aly chronicles a journey that is both theirs and her own. Part of what makes the documentary so powerful is Raisman’s transparency regarding her own struggles to process what she went through. She is also intent on chronicling not just the trauma but also her experience healing. “The thing that has helped me the most in my healing is being patient with myself, and giving myself permission to have tougher days where I do feel really tired,” she says. “I used to be hard on myself, and I still am, by I’m trying to be kinder to myself.” To ensure that more young children don’t have the same experience that she had, Raisman is working with the non-profit Darkness to Light, which seeks to better equip adults to recognize child abuse, and to talk to children about it—even in cases where children are too young to recognize it themselves, or, if they do, too fearful to say anything. Book an inspiring #MeToo keynote speaker like Aly Raisman at Speakers.com today!
