How The Younique Foundation is Helping Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

By Eric Openshaw on April 30, 2018

This article is sponsored by the Younique Foundation. The Younique Foundation is committed to helping women who were sexually abused as children or adolescents find hope. Their Reclaim Hope strategies will give you ways to begin or continue on your journey of healing.

One Out of Four Girls

One out of four girls is sexually abused before the age of 18. And very few cases are ever reported to authorities. The Younique Foundation wants to change these surprising statistics for the better. The Younique Foundation believes that to have a real change you have to address healing. Then you have to address prevention.

The Younique Foundation’s Mission focuses on two things.

• They give sexually abused women hope. Offering healing services is their priority. The foundation provides retreats, survivor communities, and online resources.
• They help parents and caregivers protect children from sexual abuse with education and online resources. Finally, they want to make it safe to openly discuss issues of sexual abuse in our communities.

President and Founder Shelaine Maxfield talks about some of the amazing things the Younique Foundation have done for survivors. Shelaine and her husband, Derek Maxfield, were driving home after a conversation with a childhood sexual abuse survivor. It was then that Derek said, “something has to be done about this”. It finally led to the organization of an incredible foundation that helps survivors in various ways.

Less Than Five Years Ago

When Derek Maxfield and his sister Melanie Huscroft first started Younique Products, they were on a mission to uplift, empower, and validate women. The plan was to create a for profit company to help support the non-profit Derek and Shelaine started. The Maxfields thought it would be five years before the company would be ready to help support The Foundation.  But after only two years, Derek and Shelaine announced The Younique Foundation. Just two years after Younique Products launched, Derek and Shelaine founded The Younique Foundation.

Helping to Prevent Sexual Abuse

The Younique Foundationalso includes Defend Innocence, a brand used to educate parents and caregivers to protect children from sexual abuse. Shelaine Maxfield, The Younique Foundation’s board chair and president personally engages in all of the foundation’s work and decisions. She says, “We can’t sweep [this topic] under the rug. We can’t turn our backs on it. And we certainly cannot turn our hearts away from a cause that is desperate for our attention.”

Now each week, The Younique Foundation hosts 24 adult female survivors at The Haven Retreat. At the retreat, survivors participate in a variety of healing activities. They do exercises designed to help with trauma recovery. Then they have classes that help participants manage the effects of abuse. And they even offer off-site group therapy.  All meals, lodging, and activities are provided free of charge. More than 1,600 women from all over the world have attended The Haven Retreat.

In 2017, The Younique Foundation had 14.5 million social media impressions. 911,789 website page views. And filmed 600 supporter and survivor videos.

In 2017, Defend Innocence had 3.3 million social media impressions. 218,200 social media engagements. They educated 2,890 caregivers. And they have also taught prevention in two languages.

You can find out how to start conversations that lead to awareness and prevention at defendinnocence.org. Plus, you can learn more about the 5 Strategies to Reclaim Hope, and what you can do to help support a survivor, at youniquefoundation.org. You can also find The Younique Foundation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.