Erin Merryn is author of Stolen Innocence, Living for Today, and An Unimaginable Act, all memoirs. Erin earned her Master’s degree in social work from Aurora University in May 2009. After suffering years of sexual abuse and rape as a child she broke her silence and found her mission in life. Erin began a crusade her senior year of high school in 2004 to end the silence and shame around sexual abuse by publishing her childhood diary into a book. She has overcome many obstacles from child abuse, a learning disability, and living daily with epilepsy. In 2010 she became the force behind Erin’s Law. A law that requires public schools to teach children on age appropriate sexual abuse prevention curriculum. She is traveling to each state capital testifying to lawmakers to pass the law. She has made it her mission to pass the law in all 50 states. More than half the country has either passed or are voting on Erin’s Law. In November 2012 Glamour Magazine named her Woman of the Year and she was honored in Carnegie Hall before 3,000 people. People Magazine named her a HEROES Among Us in April 2013 and listed her as one of fifteen women changing the world in June 2014. She has made numerous media appearances including, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey’s Network, Katie Couric, CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, Fox, Jane Velez Mitchell, Montel, and Al Jazeera. She has appeared in People Magazine, Time Magazine, USA Today, London Times, Glamour Magazine, Huffington Post, Cosmo Girl Magazine, among others. Erin lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and their daughter.