The Restorative Power of Using Your Voice: Interview with Steve Peacock

By Patricia Adams
4 min read

This week, I had the opportunity to sit down with I Have The Right To board member, Steve Peacock. Steve is a child sexual assault survivor, speaker, and advocate, who has delivered keynote addresses to over 1,000 students, parents, and educators since 2021.

In our interview, I was blown away by Steve’s eloquence, passion, and drive. Steve and I spoke in depth about the restorative power of using your voice. It was my pleasure to speak with him. Thank you, Steve!

Q: What brought you to I Have The Right To?
“I’ve spent nearly 30 or so years in the finance industry and nowhere did the topics of sexual
abuse, sexual assault or advocacy ever came up in any real way. One day, I was doing
research on LinkedIn and by chance Alex Prout’s name came up. I wouldn’t have given it a
second thought but the title under his name “sexual assault survivor advocate” caught my
attention. I was curious so I clicked on it and there was the video of Alex and Chessy on
Bloomberg News discussing the assault she suffered and the painful aftermath. Within hours of
reaching out to Alex, he responded back. I shared that I thought he and Chessy were
tremendous advocates and that Chessy was so brave and such an incredible inspiration.
Chessy’s courage gave me the strength to share my story of childhood sexual abuse with Alex.
When I did so, Alex let me know that I am not alone. It was so healing to hear these reassuring
words- you’re not alone, it’s not your fault, and you can heal. It was at that moment that I knew I
had to get involved, and I knew that I Have The Right To was a safe place for me to do just
that.”

Q: As a parent, why is the work I Have The Right To is doing Important to you?
“I Have The Right To is doing the work to challenge and break the system that sadly
encourages silence over protecting kids. We are working to talk to everyone involved in the
ecosystem- parents, educators, coaches, students- about their role in breaking the cycle and
confronting the realities of sexual violence. And we are giving parents and educators the
vocabulary to talk about abuse when it does happen.
I’m so glad that Alex shared those reassuring words with me in 2021 but I wish I could have
heard those same words decades earlier from my parents, teachers or even friends. It could
have changed a lot of things in my life if I had heard those words as a child instead of as an
adult. If there was more education on these issues back then, maybe it could have been
different.
For me, as a parent, education around the prevalence of sexual abuse, the ability to stand up,
join the cause, and break the cycles is so important. We want to prevent it whenever and
wherever we can and, if the worst does happen, we want to give people the tools to address it as soon as possible. I Have The Right To supports kids the way I wish I had been supported
when I was a child.”

Q: Why does the I Have The Right To message need to reach middle and high school
students? As you look to the future, what do you hope for these students?
“First and foremost, statistics reveal that as many as 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be victims of
sexual assault before the age of 18. In reality, it’s probably far more than that. It is absolutely
critical to get this education in age-appropriate ways to kids as young as possible. As such, we
need to get resources into the hands of parents and educators. While we all have our own life
challenges to deal with, if things like sexual violence are not front and center, things are going to
happen before there’s a framework provided for a response. I Have The Right To’s mission of
getting into middle and high schools helps students who are already survivors by showing them
they are not alone. And, it also helps schools and students prevent sexual assault harm from
happening in the first place. This can make a huge difference in the lives of young people.”

Q: Any closing messaging for our readers, survivors, parents or students?
“I want to remind everyone that their voice matters – we all need to speak up, use our voices,
and don’t be afraid to say ‘no, that’s not right.’ We need to make a change. I am so inspired by
the people I have met on this journey that are using their voice to educate people on the truth
about sexual violence. It’s important to stay focused and dedicated to using our voice as much
as we can. I want to see everyone get onboard- parents, educators, students, in every space –
work, schools, community forums…
We are raising awareness- we are making people aware that sexual assault, sexual abuse, and
all forms of sexual violence are not just isolated incidents. It is more common than most people
think. It’s prevalent. By using our voices, we are also showing others how to support survivors.
We are giving people the vocabulary so that when someone discloses, whether it be a friend,
coworker, child, relative, or stranger- our words can help that person flourish and not recoil. I
believe that is everyone’s right.
So if I were to say my own ‘I Have The Right To,’ I would empathically state ‘I Have The Right
To Be Alive, to be fully Alive.’ The reason I feel so strongly about the work that I Have The Right
To does is because I believe that it can help in prevention AND I know that it can help in
restoration. It has with me.”