Woman Of Influence

Activist and feminist Judy Rebick on childhood abuse, her personal #MeToo and where the women’s movement goes next

- Courtney Shea

In your new memoir, Heroes in My Head, you write about becoming aware as an adult that you’d been sexually abused by your father and had developed multiple personalities as a result. What motivated you to talk about something that is so painful and private?

I say in the intro that this is my #MeToo. I am speaking up and sharing my experience, hoping it might empower others. Childhood sexual abuse is a massive and widespread problem, but we’re not dealing with it. This is partly because of stigma, particularly around abuse that happens within the family. It’s so important that we stop thinking of abusers as just the creepy stranger. The family is one of the most dangerous places for women and children, and nobody wants to say that this is true.

When did you first become aware of your multiple personalities?