Elizabeth Smart recalls horror of being trapped by rapist

Elizabeth Smart lent her voice Friday to the campaign to promote awareness of sexual assault in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

The abduction survivor teamed up Friday with Deondra Brown of The 5 Browns music group to share their experiences of sexual abuse.

The event took place at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, according to Deseret News.

‘We’re here and we’re talking about big, dark, scary issues, issues that we don’t want to talk about,’ Smart said.

‘And I think it’s even harder to admit that something has happened to you but being here tonight, what’s going on in the media with Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo campaign, and this is a time where it is making more noise and we’re going to continue to expand this campaign, to expand these events where we talk about these issues because the more people we can bring in and educate, the more noise we can make, which will eventually change the system.’

Elizabeth Smart lent her voice Friday to the campaign to promote awareness of sexual assault in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal

The abduction survivor teamed up Friday with Deondra Brown of The 5 Browns to share their experiences of sexual abuse

The abduction survivor teamed up Friday with Deondra Brown of The 5 Browns to share their experiences of sexual abuse

The event took place at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Smart and Brown participated in a panel designed to encourage assault victims to come forward

The event took place at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Smart and Brown participated in a panel designed to encourage assault victims to come forward

Smart was 14 years old when she was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City and held in a remote spot in the woods in 2002 for nine months. 

Last month, she revealed she contemplated killing herself after being raped and beaten by her abductor.

Smart, who is now 29 and a married mother of two, was raped up to four times a day by Brian David Mitchell after he broke into her parent’s home and kidnapped her. 

He was given a life sentence for the kidnapping and his wife Wanda Barzee is also serving jail time for helping to hold Smart captive. 

Smart was 14 years old when she was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City and held in a remote spot in the woods in 2002 for nine months. Last month, she revealed she contemplated killing herself after being raped and beaten by her abductor

Smart was 14 years old when she was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City and held in a remote spot in the woods in 2002 for nine months. Last month, she revealed she contemplated killing herself after being raped and beaten by her abductor

Brian David Mitchell

Wanda Barzee

Smart, who is now 29 and a married mother of two, was raped up to four times a day by Brian David Mitchell (left) after he broke into her parent’s home and kidnapped her. He was given a life sentence for the kidnapping and his wife Wanda Barzee (right) is also serving jail time for helping to hold Smart captive

Smart and Brown participated in a panel designed to encourage assault victims to come forward. 

‘Too many times after I speak, I’m approached by people who begin by saying “I’ve never told anyone this”,’ followed by stories of sex assault, she said. 

The 5 Browns are a classical piano group made up of three sisters and two brothers – Melody, Deondra, Desirae, Ryan and Gregory.

They were the first family of five siblings to be accepted at the same time into New York’s Juilliard School.

The Utah siblings released three albums that got to number one in the US classical chart.

In 2011, their father, Keith Brown, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted for sexually abusing his three daughters, including Deondra Brown. 

‘It’s important for victims to become the individuals who look out for themselves,’ Brown said. 

‘In this instance, you can be selfish.’ 

Smart said that while she was being held in captivity, he would often remember the love of her parents, which fueled her will to survive. 

‘For me, being raped was probably the single most destructive thing that could’ve happened to me,’ Smart said. 

‘There were so many times where I felt like things couldn’t possibly get worse and for me, I eventually got to the point where I realized … that I knew I had my family, if no one else would love me, they would and for me, that would be worth surviving for.’

Brown said that the response from the public following the first musical performance after news broke of her father’s crimes gave her strength. 

The 5 Browns are a classical piano group made up of three sisters and two brothers - Melody, Deondra, Desirae, Ryan and Gregory

The 5 Browns are a classical piano group made up of three sisters and two brothers – Melody, Deondra, Desirae, Ryan and Gregory

In 2011, their father, Keith Brown, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted for sexually abusing his three daughters, including Deondra Brown

In 2011, their father, Keith Brown, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted for sexually abusing his three daughters, including Deondra Brown

‘We’d never had an audience give us a standing ovation the second we stepped on stage,’ Brown said. 

Smart’s parents said that even before their daughter returned home, they began to plan her post-abduction recovery. 

‘My wife and I had a little discussion before she was found about moving forward, and we had some genuine concerns about how would she survive, how would we move forward together, and one of the things we both decided was that regardless of what had happened to her she needed to know that it was not her fault,’ Ed Smart, Elizabeth’s father, said. 

‘I think a lot of us have grown up with this playground idea of what forgiveness is and as we grow to adults, I think that idea needs to change,’ Elizabeth Smart said. 

‘It needs to mature as well because you’re not going to be friends with everyone who hurts you. 

‘Speaking from experience there are a couple of people that I never, ever want to see ever again. 

‘With that being said, have I forgiven them? Yes, but I don’t want to have anything to do with them. 

‘If I held on to what they did to me for so long that anger would take part of my soul and … that would be taking part of me away from my family, from my parents and my husband. 

‘Not all of me would be able to be there for my daughter, not all of me would be able to be there for my son, not all of me would be able to be there for everything that I want to enjoy along the way.’ 

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