Read Kay Corbett’s Nonfiction Book

Kay Corbett's formal education includes a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, and graduates' voice performance at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

She has remained stepmother to her four Calla Lilies, Teresa, Lisa, Tina, and Cynthia, for over 40 years; during that time, she watched her Calla Lilies cycle in and out of jail after being sexually abused as children.

Kay and her husband, Chuck, have lived in Clifton, Virginia, for 18 years.

KAY CORBETT, AUTHOR

kaycorbett19@gmail.com

Presentations to local groups and clubs about Calla Lilies: A True Story of Four Sisters and Their Struggle to Survive Abuse, Addiction, and Poverty in America. Presentations take about 50 minutes and include statistics on PowerPoint and a professional slideshow of the women from childhood through 2013 and questions from the audience.

Presentations have included such groups as Adventures in Learning, Annandale, Virginia; Fairfax Lions Club, Fairfax, VA; AAUW Fairfax City Branch Book and Author Luncheon, Fairfax, VA; Retired Teachers of Fairfax County, Fairfax, VA.

Comments have included "superb presentation,” "amazing delivery," and "well prepared.” "You opened our eyes to the injustices of our present day penal system and the sad outcome of people who face physical and sexual abuse."

Radio Interviews: Sexual Abuse Pipeline to an Unfair Jail

One in four American girls will experience some form of sexual abuse by the age of 18. Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

According to one report, victims of sexual abuse are three times more likely to suffer from depression, six times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, and four times more likely to contemplate suicide. Up to 70% of women in drug abuse treatment report histories of physical and sexual abuse with victimization beginning before 11 years of age. This was the case with Tina, who was sexually abused from the time she was 7 to 14 years of age when she reported the abuse and was removed from the foster home.

A new 20-year study by the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council of the National Academies came out in September 2013, called "New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research." This study has found that the brain of a child abused and neglected in early life does not develop in the same way as that of a child from a nurturing environment. These alterations in the brain affect many aspects of the Child's life, including his emotional stability and cognitive abilities. Without intervention, these changes in the brain can remain throughout his or her entire life. These changes in the brain can cause mental diseases to develop, such as bipolar disease and schizophrenia. Two of my Calla Lilies have been diagnosed with a bipolar disease caused by their sexual abuse in childhood.

Sexual abuse is one of the primary predictors of a girl's entry into the juvenile justice system. Females who have been in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems are the most vulnerable.

Should sexually be abused, women go to jail for crimes caused by their sexual abuse?

Why have local municipalities' changes in raising revenue affected the number of sexually abused women going to jail?

What can be done to help sexually abused women who are arrested?