If we abolish the family policing system, how do we respond to child sexual abuse? Abolition helps us create a world where all children are safe and supported by their communities. We’re addressing the problem, not just sweeping it under the rug. We speak with award-winning journalist and author Roxanna Asgarian about her essay “Reclaiming Safety for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.” Roxanna explores how the current carceral response to child sexual harm—rooted in punishment, separation, and shame—fails survivors and perpetuates cycles of trauma. Together, we discuss what safety and accountability can look like outside of prisons, foster care, and family policing. Drawing from her reporting and lived experience, Roxanna invites us to imagine community-based pathways to healing that honor survivors, hold those who harm accountable, and build the conditions where safety is possible for everyone.About Our Guest: Roxanna Asgarian is a Texas-based journalist and the author of We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America, which won the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and the L.A. Times Book Prize. Her reporting has appeared in The Washington Post, Texas Monthly, and New York Magazine. A survivor of child sexual harm, Roxanna has spent years covering stories at the intersections of child welfare, justice, and community care—centering the voices of those most impacted by family separation and systemic neglect.Episode Notes: Support the work of upEND: upendmovement.org/donateEpisode Transcript: upendmovement.org/podcast/episode303/ Read “Reclaiming Safety for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse” by Roxanna Agarian. Connect with Roxanna’s work at RoxannaAsgarianWrites.com and read her award-winning book, We Were Once a Family.Roxanna discusses Hidden Water Healing Circles and Freedom Community Center.Explore the Reclaiming Safety series: upendmovement.org/safetyCredits: Hosted by Josie Pickens and Jaison OliverProduced by Sydnie Dan’el MaresMixed by Imani Crosby