Hi, website visitors! My name is Abby Honold, which some of you probably already knew, and then there are some of you have no idea who I am or what my deal is. Either way, I’m glad to have you here.

I am a lifelong Minnesotan, and for the last four years, I’ve been working on reform on behalf of sexual assault victims. This advocacy comes from a personal place. For a long time, I dealt with my own trauma and case, and struggled in finding solidarity with others. I realized during those two years how isolating this experience was, and I made the decision that no one else should have to struggle through this alone if I could help it. To help fellow survivors directly, I founded a support network that now has members from all over the world. I care immensely about the direct support I can help victims of sexual violence with, and I also always knew that that wouldn’t be enough.

Since coming forward with my story in 2016, I have been able to get a federal bill introduced with overwhelmingly bipartisan support to better train law enforcement in sexual assault cases (it recently passed the House!), introduce an initiative in my home state to mandate consent education in schools, assisted journalists on multiple investigative pieces about criminal investigations for sexual assaults (including the Star Tribune’s Denied Justice series), and raised awareness across the world about what the reporting process can be like for victims of sexual assault. Recently, I was honored to stand with the police department that mishandled my case, and announce policy changes for how that department investigates sex crimes.

I’m not ever going to claim to have all the answers, but when I have an answer, I’ll share it. I want to give a special welcome to every survivor of sexual assault who’s visiting (whether you feel like a “survivor” yet or not). I’ve been in your shoes, I have lots of love for you, and I’m happy we’ve found each other. Please use my contact form on my website if you’re interested in getting more support.

If you are someone who is looking for answers about sexual assault or is just curious about the issue, I’m glad to have you here. This is not the best way for you to get those answers, though, and I would love if you reached out on my contact page in order to schedule a meeting or a speaking engagement with any group you have. I love answering questions about the issue because I know how important it is, and I’m happy to talk about any aspect of sexual assault. I am proud to be a consultant, educator, and advocate; and I will happily fill any role you might need for your group, school, or organization. I speak about sexual assault to schools (both K-12 and higher education), law enforcement, medical professionals, journalists, training groups, and Greek Life organizations (whether students or staff). I am happy to provide references for those who ask, but I do not provide or distribute videos of myself speaking. I appreciate your understanding in advance.

In addition, I am proud to offer limited consulting and personal advocacy services for survivors whose cases are being covered by media. Resources for survivors in that area are extremely limited, and I do occasionally take on personal clients to assist in navigating media coverage for those who need assistance but are not interested in or able to afford legal representation.

With that said, I’m going to let the rest of my posts speak for themselves. Here is my twitter (much better for regular updates on what I’m doing or where you can see me), Facebook, and first post. Happy reading!