Singing with the Sirens: Overcoming the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Sexual Exploitation

Numerous women in our culture have experienced shame, degradation, and despair as a result of having been sexually traumatized early in life. Some of these women end up in unhappy marriages or abusive relationships; some fall prey to a variety of addictions, silently or publicly; and some find themselves working in the sex industry. And for many survivors, their situations—and the situations that have brought them there—are secrets that have no voice. In Singing with the Sirens, experts Ellyn Bell and Stacey Bell address the long term complex trauma that results from the sexual abuse and exploitation of girls and young women, drawing on their personal and professional experiences to explore the link between the sexual abuse of children, issues of attachment and safety, and the commercial exploitation of young people. But this is not strictly a scholarly book or a memoir of personal experience; rather, the authors address this problem from a perspective of self-realization and transformation, taking the reader on a journey through mythological tales toward finding healing from within. Poetic, hopeful, and powerful, Singing with the Sirens is a call for wounded women everywhere to reclaim their own truth, spirit, and to sing with their authentic voice.

Ellyn Bell has worked as an organizational leader with at-risk and marginalized youth and addressing violence against women and children for 20 years. Her personal experiences as a youth informed her career choices. She was most recently, the Executive Director of the SAGE Project in San Francisco, one of the first peer-led organizations in the country to work with human trafficking and commercially exploited youth and adults. She holds a Master’s Degree in Religion, with an emphasis in Theology. She also received her social work license in the State of Iowa. Ellyn is also a yoga teacher and a trained dancer. She is mother to two wonderful people who are now extraordinary young adults.

Stacey Bell was born and raised in the United Kingdom. After suffering abuse as a child, she immigrated to the US at the age of sixteen and became exposed to exploitation and other traumas. Today, Stacey serves young people as the Youth Development Director for an urban school district in Northern California. She has a Masters in Social Work and is in the process of completing her doctorate in International Multicultural Education with an emphasis in Human Rights Education. First and foremost, Stacey is a mother, both to her biological children, as well as all the babies she has mothered, mentored, and supported over the years. She is a partner at Bella Invictus with Ellyn Bell.