This Human Life – What Matters Most: From Survivor To Advocate | Lyn Smith

Content Warning (CW): This episode discusses themes of sexual assault, which some listeners may find distressing or triggering. On this inaugural episode of the This Human Life podcast your host, Paul D. Lowe, talks Lyn Smith about three simple words that are actually an umbrella for a range of things: What matters most? In this case, Lyn decides to talk about injustice, both personal and global after being the victim of sexual assaults in her teens. KEY TAKEAWAYS The main injustice that affected me stemmed from a couple of nasty childhood experiences. I’m a two-time sexual assault survivor. This was in the 1970s when I was in my teens and I didn’t report it at the time. I only reported it when I was 42 years old. I was going to go to university to become a veterinarian, but that didn’t happen because my education was interrupted, I went totally off the rails in terms of academia and left school without the qualifications. At 19 I joined the police force, and I think that’s because of the injustice I felt at telling no one about it. It was shocking to me to see the stats around the amount of women who were making sexual assault claims that were false. That was very disheartening and a bit of a slap in the face for those of us that have genuinely been through that. I can understand why women don’t report it: A) Are you going to be believed if it genuinely has happened to you. B) You’re going to have to relive it all multiple times in the conversations you have with police officers, medical professionals, as well as in the court room. C) You see such trivial slaps on the wrists given to the perpetrators. It’s horrible to see women still not getting justice today even though women have a louder voice today. BEST MOMENTS ‘I could literally tell, or feel, which women were telling the truth or were trying to pull the wool over our eyes.’‘Worldwide the system is still failing women.’‘Women are murdered every week in intimate relationships behind closed doors on the back of a string of domestic violence reports.’‘It affected my future relationships, it also affects your nervous system, you’re living life at high alert all the time which puts stress on the body and brings health implications both physically and mentally.’ ABOUT THE GUESTS Lyn Smith – (The Queen of HEARTS) – Love, Dating & Relationship Expert Lyn’s personal story is a very inspirational and harrowing one of how she went from having unhealthy and unfulfilling relationships with men (on the back of several serious traumatic sexual assaults in her teens) to now feeling safe, fulfilled, alive, full of passion and having inner peace. She has a proven track record as a Love Solutions - Relationship Expert/ Trainer/ Inspirational Speaker and Best-Selling Author based upon her own vast personal research, experiential learning and training with the world’s leading industry experts. Lyn makes a difference by helping you make a difference; she has a vision of contributing back on a global scale. Contact Method [email protected]  THIS HUMAN LIFE  Inspiring Stories | Elevating Lives | Leaving Legacies  This Human Life is a reflective podcast exploring what it means to live, change, and make sense of experience over time.  Hosted by Paul D. Lowe, Life Architect & Storyteller, the podcast offers a calm, thoughtful space where people share insight after life has been lived — not while it is being performed.  Through unhurried conversations shaped by love and loss, courage and consequence, reinvention and meaning, guests reflect on the moments that have quietly shaped who they have become.  There is no teaching, no persuading, and no expectation placed on the listener. Just lived experience, shared with honesty, humility, and care.  More than a podcast, This Human Life is an invitation to pause, to listen more deeply, and to reflect on the lives we are shaping simply by living them.  Paul-Lowe.com  [email protected]