Kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart says she’s proud to be a survivor
When she was just 14, Elizabeth Smart endured the unimaginable. In 2002, she was kidnapped from her bedroom in Salt Lake City at knifepoint by a religious fanatic. She was held captive for nine months and raped repeatedly. Smart, 30, who grew up in a close-knit Mormon family, described the terrifying ordeal in her 2013 bestselling memoir, “My Story.”
In her new book, “Where There’s Hope: Healing, Moving Forward and Never Giving Up” (St. Martin’s Press), Smart interviews survivors of trauma and tells the story of her own recovery. She spoke with USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg during a recent #BookmarkThis chat on Facebook Live. Highlights:
Question: Elizabeth, you write something powerful about yourself in your new book: “Some people will look at me and forever see the little 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped all those years ago, but when I look in the mirror, I see a wife, a mother, an advocate, a friend, a survivor — someone I want to be, someone I never want to disappoint.” That seems to sum up where you are at this point in your life; someone very strong. Why is that an important statement for you to make?
Smart: Even when I get on airplanes, very often, as I walk down the aisle, I notice a lot of people staring, or whispering. I recognize the fact that yes, to a lot of people I will always be that 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped and who was held captive. But today I am so much more than that. I got married about six years ago to my best friend ... and we’ve got a 3-year-old daughter who looks at me only as Mama. She doesn’t see an advocate, she doesn’t see a victim, she just sees her mother. I also have a son, he’s 1, so my life is very full, and it is wonderful. I see myself as a survivor, and I’m not ashamed to say I’m a survivor. To me, survivor implies strength, implies that I have been through something and I made it out the other side. Whatever it was I went through, that did not destroy me. I’m very proud to say I’m an advocate for victims of sexual violence and victims of kidnapping (through the Elizabeth Smart Foundation). I feel very honored to be able to claim those titles.
Q: At the time of your kidnapping, you asked yourself ‘How on Earth did this happen to me, and why?’
Smart: For a long time, that was a big question. The whole time I was kidnapped (I wondered), ‘Why did this happen to me? I never did anything to deserve this.’ ... (Today) I don’t feel sorry for myself anymore. I don’t question why this happened anymore. I’ve accepted it, it’s part of my life, it’s altered the direction of my life, and I’m moving forward from it.
Q: Hope is so important as a theme, both in your new book and in helping you survive the months you were held captive.
Smart: I think the title says it all. Every single one (of the people she interviewed) had their little piece of hope, and they never gave up. I don’t think I could have survived if I didn’t have some hope to hold on to. That hope was instrumental in me surviving and probably maintaining my sanity.
Q. What was it like to watch the Lifetime made-forTV movie ‘I Am Elizabeth Smart,’ and why did you decide to participate in it? (Smart provided narration and was a producer.)
Smart: I did watch it and I never want to watch it again because it was accurate, it was extremely accurate. … Their acting was so real, it brought back emotional aspects to it that a book doesn’t do, that pictures don’t do, that me speaking doesn’t do. It was like reliving it. … I was speaking a lot and every time, without fail, I would have someone come up to me (and tell me a story of sexual abuse). For me, that was it: I have to do this, this is not OK, this is not all right. They need to know there is hope and they shouldn’t have to hide a secret. If I can share my secrets, if I can share the darkest part of my life, they they can, too.