From Victim to Victor:
By Marsha B.
My name is Marsha Barth. Friends call me “Marty”. I am an author, speaker and advocate against childhood sexual abuse. I have had four books published- "The Shattering” and “The Shattering II” which are my true stories of overcoming childhood abuse. “Tony the Lonely Dandelion”, a child's book against bullying, and “Amazing Grace” a story of Hope. As a speaker, I have spoken for PCAR, CVAP, OVA, SARRC, CAC, Prisons, Rehabs, University of HI, and to college Criminology and Psychology students in WV. I have done radio and TV interviews, retreats and conferences. I developed and taught a workshop for the 2021 Pathways for Victim Services Conference sponsored by PCCD and also developed and taught a 4–6-week course “Victim to Victor” for PAATC. So often, the word “Victim” can be as debilitating as the crime itself. This is not to minimize the victimization, but to understand that the devastation from its fallout does not define us. We cannot wear the shroud of victimization but know that we can heal and become whole again, that we can go forth and be a voice of justice, of accountability to the perpetrator, a restorer of the breach. We can bring an awareness to a world that is totally unaware of the atrocities that go on behind closed door. This is why I do the work that I do-because yes, we are victims—but we are also-survivors, overcomers, conquerors, and even Victors. A favorite quote from my book is, “If we can be brave enough to enter into the dark shadows of the unspeakable and pull back the curtains, we not only reveal the light, but we also set the captives free. It is God's desire to take us from lost to found, from victim to victor, from death to life.”
