As a young child, picture yourself imprisoned in a secret location where you are unable to see the outdoor environment and faced with horrible acts by individuals who stole you away. This was the life of Jaycee Dugard, who spent a significant amount of time in captivity after being kidnapped. In her memoir, A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard writes about her personal experience of being abducted at the age of eleven and being held captive for eighteen years. Jaycee tells about her difficult past, which included being raped and sexually abused. Helping other survivors and speaking up for those who are going through similar situations as her, shows her bravery. Jaycee’s story is important today because it illustrates how people who’ve been abducted …show more content…
While being held captive, Jaycee dreamed of doing things like swimming with dolphins and traveling in a warm air balloon. She even learned the way to drive and has her pets (Where Are Jaycee Dugard and Her Daughters Today?). This demonstrates how, despite everything that happened to her, Jaycee Dugard remained strong and decided to return her life to normal. She showed her desire to regain joy by gaining knowledge and taking care of her dogs. Her involvement in animal-assisted programs contributed to her journey of recovery and strength. Dugard spent a lot of time on her therapist Rebecca Bailey's semi-rural property throughout the healing process. Bailey incorporates animal therapy into her practice and is well-known around the country for her skills in trauma healing. Dugard continued to work closely with Bailey through her JAYC Foundation ("Jaycee Dugard's Courageous Path: Reclaiming a Stolen Life"). This illustrates how Jaycee Dugard recovered from her difficult experiences with therapy and animal connection. Jaycee’s road to recovery shows the benefits of therapy and programs involving animals to heal from extreme trauma and start over in a life of pleasure and
When reading, “The Captured” by Scott Zesch it is easy to get lost and caught up in the lives of the captured children after their abduction. At times the audience can easily forget that that despite the kindness that the children received from their captors, cruelty also existed. The children that were abducted were given a new life with new Indian families, but before that happened they were in some cases brutally ripped from their homes. The deeper the author delves into the individual story it becomes apparent that despite the brutality that many of the children
Many things that happen in this world are scary and totally out of our control. Child abduction is a horrifying and life changing event that has terrified many children, parents and love ones. Child abduction is every parent's worst nightmare. It could happen in the grocery store, yard or even your child's school. The horrifying truth is that child abduction could happen almost anywhere in the world. However, the most crucial part about their whole experience can be once they’re rescued and brought back to their loved ones. Many survivors tend to feel unsafe and in most cases, and just can’t be the same person.
In the United States, nearly 800,000 children are reported to be missing every year (“Key Facts”). Approximately 40% of these children are either “killed or never recovered” (“When a child…”). Elizabeth Smart, a victim of abduction, was not part of this statistic. She was finally rescued and reunited with her family after nine months of being held captive. Ten years after her abduction, she released her memoir My Story. In her memoir, Elizabeth Smart stated she used her faith and strong love for her family to stay alive during these nine months. She stated that her return to her family could not have been possible without the strong determination and courage she had. Smart’s memoir My Story highlights that in the toughest conditions, determination
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard is an autobiography recounting the chilling memories that make up the author’s past. She abducted when she was eleven years old by a man named Phillip Garrido with the help of his wife Nancy. “I was kept in a backyard and not allowed to say my own name,” (Dugard ix). She began her life relatively normally. She had a wonderful loving mother, a beautiful baby sister,, and some really good friends at school. Her outlook on life was bright until June 10th, 1991, the day of her abduction. The story was published a little while after her liberation from the backyard nightmare. She attended multiple therapy sessions to help her cope before she had the courage to share her amazing story. For example she says, “My growth has not been an overnight phenomenon…it has slowly and surely come about,” (D 261). She finally began to put the pieces of her life back together and decided to go a leap further and reach out to other families in similar situations. She has founded the J A Y C Foundation or Just Ask Yourself to Care. One of her goals was, amazingly, to ensure that other families have the help that they need. Another motive for writing the book may have also been to become a concrete form of closure for Miss Dugard and her family. It shows her amazing recovery while also retelling of all of the hardships she had to endure and overcome. She also writes the memoir in a very powerful and curious way. She writes with very simple language and sentence structures. This becomes a constant reminder for the reader that she was a very young girl when she was taken. She was stripped of the knowledge many people take for granted. She writes for her last level of education. She also describes all of the even...
This study examines the research that initially began on October 28, 2000 and spanned through to October 31, 2009. If a human trafficking case occurred in the US, with the victim being under the age of 18, and at least one arrested, indicted or convicted felon, their case would be filed in the data analysis report. This research resulted in the finding of 115 separate incidents of human trafficking, involving at least 153 victims and 215 felons or perpetrators, 117 (53.4%) of them being convicted of their heinous actions. Each individual case consisted of anywhere between 1 to 9 victims of trafficking. 90% of these victims were females between the ages of 5 to 17 years who were held captive from less than 6 months to 5 years. 25 (16.3%) of these minors were exploited through some type of false promise and 15 (9.8%) were kidnapped. 34 (22.2%) of the victims were abused through com...
as Jennifer, a victim states, “I feel our childhood has been taken away from us and it has left a big hole in our lives.”
America struggles to find equality, and by bystanding the stripping of its youth, continual prolonging is inevitable. Raising this nation’s children through nurturing and care is the first step to uplifting America as a whole. In 2012 alone, 1593 of America’s children died at the hands of child abuse, 70.3% of whom were younger than the age of three (Safe Horizon). In order to prevent further child abuse, the American government should address stricter child protection laws, psychological stability, and increase the recognition of those that have released their stories. Stories by Mary Ellen Wilson.
Human trafficking is the act of coercing someone into working against his or her will. Anyone can be a victim, especially young girls who are vulnerable to the captor’s lies. Victims have been found anywhere from driving ice cream trucks to touring boys’ choir. In her talk, Noy Thrupkaew shares several examples about how people are deceived and coerced into coming to the United States and being forced to work for someone else. She focuses on how close to home human trafficking really is and how the victims don’t necessarily need saving but solidarity. In Noy Thrupkaew’s speech about human trafficking, she not only shares her own story but also the different situations regarding how the crime functions. Because the speaker
This paper will shed light on the abductions of three young women by Ariel Castro. Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus were held captive for over a decade in Ariel Castro’s home located in Cleveland, Ohio. These women were all raped and beaten during their years of captivity by a man that they each had known or come in contact with prior to being abducted. After their rescue Ariel Castro faced charges for the rape and kidnapping of these women, he later pled guilty to these charges. After pledging guilty to the charges Ariel Castro hung himself one night in his jail cell. Each one of these girls maintained a since of hope that
In the twenty first century statistics have proven that stranger abductions are feared most by parents but rarely happen, and the number one abduction that occurs is, parental abduction. “Over 800,000 children are reported missing in the United States each year. Child abduction is a tragedy that devastates parents and touches all of us,” writes Jenny Wanderscheid in her online article. The United States has feared abductions for over decades, but many people misjudge the stereotypical “abduction”.
Many people view being a captive as the worst thing that has ever happened to them, but in many cases it can be viewed as beneficial to that person's strength. Throughout centuries, captivity has been defined as the condition of being imprisoned or confined. Although the horrors surrounding being a captive are terrible, the promise that every captive should keep in mind is: there is always light at the end of the tunnel. That is because every traumatizing event one experiences, just leads one to be a stronger person once one can speak about it. Captivity narratives always end with the captive freeing themselves or being freed, which then propels them to share their story with the world. Being able to write about your experience as a captive
There seems to be a dominant view throughout Western Civilizations that we are all living in the best possible time to be alive so far. For many of us, that tends to be the case. In Western Civilizations, literacy rates are up, child mortality is low, race relations and the LGBTQIA movements have made strides, and technology has provided a level of convenience and excess not yet seen. These simple truths that we take for granted, however, are not simple truths all across the globe. In fact, many areas have suffered due to these advances. In the play, Ruined, by Lynn Nottage, a powerful narrative is told that serves as a commentary about the destruction of local cultures due to the intrusive nature of war and Western Civilization in that it
This documentary shows that the abducted children are trained to become killers some escape and live their whole lives in constant fear. Others are no longer fazed by the violence and killing.
Read: An Abandoned Child’s Journey is a true story written by Jerri Diane Sueck about
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.