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How this Amish sexual abuse survivor found her voice and hopes to protect other girls like her
The film traces her 30-year silence, the abuse case against Chriss Stutzman and a movement aimed at protecting Amish women and children.
- Lizzie Hershberger, a survivor from a Swartzentruber Amish community in Southeast Minnesota, is the subject of the PBS Independent Lens documentary "Keep Quiet and Forgive," which went online last month.
- Hershberger experienced sexual abuse starting at age 5 within her community in Fillmore County, later detailing her upbringing in the book "Behind the Blue Curtains," co-authored with Molly Maeve Eagan.
- After Hershberger reported the abuse in 2019, assailant Chriss Stutzman faced criminal charges and was eventually sentenced to 45 days in jail and 10 years on probation for third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
- Today, Hershberger advocates for Amish women and children who are victims of sexual assault, stating during sentencing: "I respectfully ask that you send a message to Chriss, the Amish community, and all the sexual abuse survivors."
- Linda Crockett, founder of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Safe Communities, notes that Amish communities utilize concentric circles of authority that can crush women, while the Canton-Harmony area population has declined from about 100 families to 75 families.
16 Articles
16 Articles
How this Amish sexual abuse survivor found her voice and hopes to protect other girls like her
MABEL, Minn. — Lizzie Hershberger was a young girl living in an Amish community when she began to keep a diary. She used a special notation to denote days when she was raped. She circled the day in red. One year, there were 26 days circled in red. She was 14. Hershberger, who was raised in an Amish community in Fillmore County, Minnesota, had tried to write about what was happening to her. Scribbling and rescribbling, she found it impossible to …
How one area Amish sexual abuse survivor found her voice and hopes to protect other girls like her
MABEL, Minn. — Lizzie Hershberger was a young girl living in an Amish community when she began to keep a diary. She used a special notation to denote days when she was raped. She circled the day in red. One year, there were 26 days circled in red. She was 14. Hershberger, who was raised in an Amish community in Fillmore County, had tried to write about what was happening to her. Scribbling and rescribbling, she found it impossible to describe wi…
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