I'm
a volunteer at the Domestic Violence Child Advocacy Center of Greater
Cleveland. I'm a community activist, and a domestic violence advocate
and a survivor of domestic violence. I was nominated and won for my
community work in domestic violence from the American Red Cross Hero's
award.

I survived one of the most notorious domestic violence
abuse cases in recent California history. My encounter with the twisted
logic of abuse began in 1995 outside a motel room in Riverside. That’s
when a spate of bad luck led me into a bizarre, four-year odyssey of
polygamy, torture and psychological trauma.
The case, involving 19
victims, made national headlines, even CNN, earning the abuser seven
life terms in prison. As outrageous as it was, my story fits a typical
pattern.

It’s a story of fear so intense it strips victims of
everything but the will to survive. Now a speaker, counselor and
forceful advocate for abused women I would like to bring awareness to
Domestic Violence.

The LA Times did a multimedia piece on my story. please click on the links below to view it.
The video, multi-media piece and story that the LA Times did on me and my family, are all the links below (there are 3 parts):

http://framework.latimes.com/2011/11/10/laura-cowan/
And here is the short version the LA Times did on my son:

http://framework.latimes.com/2011/11/09/ahmed-shabazz/
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-laura-cowan-20111109,0,4263...