Why Ruth and Esther you ask?

Two courageous women of the Old Testament. I was raised in the Jewish faith, so the Old Testament is dear to my heart. It takes a great deal of courage to face the issue of sexual abuse. What finer goal to reach for than to have the faith and courage of two such fine women!

Some time ago, a friend asked me if I would search the web for her, to see if I could find a mailing list for LDS (Mormon) women who had been sexually abused. I did some searching and asked several knowledgeable people if they knew of such a list. All the answers came back "no". There was no such list.

My friend suggested I start the list myself. I thought this over for about a while. I have a close friend who runs a fully moderated mailing list, Voicings , for LDS women who are Same Sex Attracted (SSA) and desire to live the Gospel. So I had somewhat of an idea of the work involved in such an endeavor.

I also knew from personal experience that there must be a need for such a list. Indeed, since I began to publicize the list, the response has been very strong.

The list is geared to LDS (Mormon) women, but we welcome women of all faiths who have been affected by sexual abuse, whether it happened to them or to a friend or family member. In creating this list, we wanted to establish a safe place where women who have been affected by this issue can gather to discuss our common experiences and draw strength from one another.