Where Is Elizabeth Smart Today?

At ahuman trafficking forum held at John Hopkins University in 2013, Smart talked about the difficult work of reconciling her religious values about sex with the sexual torture of her captivity. She recalled the moments after she was raped for the first time, losing the virginity valued so dearly by her faith: "I felt like

At a human trafficking forum held at John Hopkins University in 2013, Smart talked about the difficult work of reconciling her religious values about sex with the sexual torture of her captivity. She recalled the moments after she was raped for the first time, losing the virginity valued so dearly by her faith: "I felt like my soul had been crushed. I felt like I wasn't even human anymore. How could anybody love me or want me or care about me? I felt like life had no more meaning to it, and that was only the beginning."

Smart recalled a time prior to her kidnapping when a teacher spoke to her class about abstinence. The teacher said, "Imagine you're a stick of gum, and when you engage in sex, that's like getting chewed. And then if you do that lots of times, you're going to become an old piece of gum, and who's going to want you after that?" After her rape, Smart thought, "I'm that chewed up piece of gum." Smart told the conference that she now understands that nothing about her terrible experience was her fault; that it did not take away her worth and value. She holds tight to her faith and a belief that "there's nothing God will give us that we can't handle."

In 2009, she embarked on a mission trip to France. In addition to providing her with a welcome degree of anonymity, she said her work overseas bolstered her faith and redirected her career. "When I was out in the field contacting person after person, I started thinking, 'The gospel is something so important to me. I wish I could reach out to more people universally,'" she told LDSLiving. "Then I realized, 'Wait a second, I can. I can help a lot more people' by working with the media to advocate for her beliefs and empower other victims.

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