147. A Repeat of Episode 43: Cashaye Barrera—An Episode Worth Hearing Again!
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Release Date: 07/22/2025
175. Amy Watson & HASSL: What You Allow Is What Continues
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
There are some episodes of this show that don’t revolve around a single survivor story, but they still land just as hard—because they force us to look at ourselves. This is one of those conversations. It’s not about recounting trauma; it’s about what allows harm to keep happening in everyday spaces, and what it actually takes to interrupt that. This episode asks questions most people would rather avoid, and it does so in a way that’s direct, practical, and impossible to brush off. My conversation with Amy Watson was exactly that kind of dialogue. We talked about prevention,...
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174. Gemini: First the Assault. Then Saprea.
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
There’s a distinctive aspect to this show that makes it different from most podcasts in this genre, and I consider it a privilege and honor to recognize those of you who make it that way. Sexual Assault Survivor Stories is not built around celebrity guests, polished talking points, or rehearsed narratives. It exists because of something far more rare and far more meaningful—trust. Again and again, people who begin as listeners reach out, not to be heard for the sake of attention, but because they’re finally ready to speak their truth in a space that feels safe enough to hold it. What...
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173. Beth: When “Normal” was Actually Rape and Sexual Assault
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Beth is a survivor who reached out to me after realizing that memories she once believed were long buried were anything but inconsequential. As she explains, those memories began resurfacing as she engaged in EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing—with her therapist, opening the door to a deeper understanding of what she had endured. (It’s amazing what a good sexual assault/rape therapist can do for clients!) Beth shares her experience inside a coercive and controlling relationship that ultimately included rape, and how that environment systematically eroded her self-image,...
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172. Erica: When a Husband’s Power Became Sexual Violence
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
In this episode I sit down with Erica, a survivor whose experience exposes the devastating reality of coercive control, rape, and sexual assault within a marriage. Erica reached out to share not only what she endured, but the long and difficult process of recognizing abuse, breaking free from it, and beginning her healing journey. This conversation examines how power and control can operate quietly and persistently—how manipulation, exploitation, and sexual violence are often obscured by relationship roles, social expectations, and silence. Erica speaks candidly about what it took to escape...
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171. Dave Markel: When Showing Up Means Slowing Down
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Today, this episode is a brief reflection from me, recorded as a pause in the regular rhythm of the show. Rather than a guest interview, I’m speaking directly to you, my listeners, about the weight of trauma-informed work, the importance of rest, and what it means to show up honestly when the work feels heavy. For survivors, professionals, and advocates alike, this episode is a reminder that healing is not linear, strength is not measured by endurance alone, and slowing down is sometimes the most responsible choice. Regular guest episodes of Sexual Assault Survivor Stories will resume next...
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170. What Stayed With Us: The Conversations From 2025 We Couldn’t Shake
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
As this year comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect, not with a countdown or a highlight reel, but with intention. This episode brings together a handful of powerful moments from conversations released in 2025 that truly captured what Sexual Assault Survivor Stories is about: survivor courage, hard truths, clarity around trauma, and the willingness to sit with conversations that don’t offer easy answers. The clips you’ll hear were chosen using a hybrid approach—listener engagement, impact, and significance. They include moments from conversations with Rachel...
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169. Shannon Porter: "What They Don’t Say" Is in The House...and The Social Media Reels People Can’t Ignore
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
I’m happy to announce that I’m joined once again by Shannon Porter, host and co-founder of the What They Don’t Say podcast. Shannon returns to talk about the evolution of her work, her growing presence on social media, and what’s driving her to speak more openly, and more frequently, about the realities of surviving rape and sexual assault. Our conversation centers on the reels and posts Shannon is producing to help shed light on what survivors face every day: how people respond when a survivor shares their story, the misunderstandings that follow trauma, and the emotional labor...
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168. Marina Lacerda: When Epstein Power, Money, and Rape Collided — and She Survived
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
For decades, Marina was known only as “Minor Victim-1” in legal documents — a label that stripped away her humanity while protecting those responsible. In this conversation, Marina reclaims what was taken from her: her voice, her story, and her identity. She speaks not just about what happened, but about what it costs to survive abuse at that scale — the trauma that lingers, the mistrust that settles in the body, and the long road back to agency and truth. This episode is not sensational, and it is not speculative. It is grounded in lived experience and courageous truth-telling....
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167. Erin Williamson: Love146 — Pulling Children Back from the Darkness
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Erin Williamson joins me for an incredibly important conversation about her work with Love146, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from human trafficking and walking alongside young survivors on their path to healing. Erin shares what this work truly looks like — not the headlines, but the day-to-day reality of survivor care, long-term recovery, and prevention education — and how essential it is to understand trafficking as a real issue affecting real children in communities across the country. We discuss the profound impact trafficking has on children’s brains,...
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166. Jason Patrick Berry: Secrets Beneath a Perfect Childhood
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
This week on Sexual Assault Survivor Stories, I sit down with Jason Patrick Berry, author of the brave and unflinchingly honest memoir Secrets Beneath. Jason’s story is one that quietly breaks your heart and then slowly helps rebuild it. On the outside, his childhood looked perfectly normal, even picturesque. But behind closed doors lived a painful reality of abuse, secrecy, and survival that no child should ever have to experience. In Secrets Beneath, Jason pulls back that veil and walks us through the lasting impact of trauma, including post trauma stress, anxiety, and emotional...
info_outline147. A Repeat of Episode 43: Cashaye Barrera—An Episode Worth Hearing Again!
Sometimes life throws us a curve ball when we least expect it, and it changes the trajectory of the path we were on. That’s what happened this week when a guest who was scheduled to record with me had some unexpected events thwart our scheduled appointment and we weren’t able to record. So, I made the decision to do something I have yet to do on this podcast, and that is to repeat a past episode. It didn’t take me anytime at all to decide which one: you are about to hear Episode 43 again: my adopted daughter, Cashaye Barrera. Cashaye’s extreme courage and strength in telling her survivor story is evident and powerful, and I’m honored to be able to have you listen to this again.
Please take the time to not only listen to this repeat episode, but also to re-read the notes I wrote for Episode 43:
This week, I made a special request to my daughter, Cashaye Barrera, to be a guest with me on this show. I was pretty sure she would agree to do this…and she did. My confidence in her response was due in part to me knowing how passionate she is about getting justice for herself…in every legal, non-violent way possible. And because I know what a tenacious and strong personality she is when she’s fighting for herself and for those she loves and cares for…like, her family. But mostly because she is passionate about helping others. Especially others that are suffering in ways she can relate to…like other victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault.
Cashaye’s sexual assault case wasn’t taken seriously when it was reported to law enforcement. Even though she was able to present physical evidence that she was raped, the agency handling the case, along with the prosecutor’s office, was much more interested in giving the benefit of the doubt to the suspect than to Cashaye; to believe his untruthful explanation for the existence of his semen on Cashaye’s clothing, rather than her report of incestuous and forceful rape. This is, for the most part, across most of this country, sadly, standard operating procedure. Part of this standard, this common response among law enforcement and prosecutors, is the systemic disbelief of victims. And another huge component to the problem is blaming the victim. And while Cashaye is one of the fortunate ones that did not end up being arrested herself for false reporting, she was certainly not believed, and was told by law enforcement that she should listen to and obey the very person that raped her, and that person’s wife who knew the sexual assault was occurring, who were Cashaye’s foster parents.
Why is this process of disbelief, blaming, shaming, of victims, and the closure of rape and sexual assault cases without the perpetrators of these crimes being so much as confrontationally questioned about the report, let alone thoroughly investigated, so rampant, so systemic? Because…it’s easier to not believe reports of sexual assault and rape than it is to believe these reports. It’s easier because our human brains don’t like to face the malevolence, the discomfort, the taboo, the ugliness, the messiness, the vulgarness…of rape. And because some men and women who investigate rape and sexual assault cases don’t like the idea that what they do, sexually, in their own personal sex lives, could very well be construed as rape or sexual assault. It’s easier to disbelieve victims; to blame victims; to shame victims, and to get them to recant their report.
If you don’t believe me, watch the independent film, Victim/Suspect, streaming on Netflix. Then read Cry Rape: The True Story of One Woman’s Quest for Justice, by Bill Lueders. Then read Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. And read Know My Name, by Chanel Miller Then read Dr. David Lisak’s research on The Undetected Rapist. Then watch The Invisible War documentary about the prevalence of rape in the military by Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, and Tanner King Barklow.
Things need to change…big time. Be a part of that change: Start by Believing.
An important side note: if you’re finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to leave a 5-star rating on your podcast platform. AND, please send me a note of support. I can’t tell you how much your emails mean to me—they fuel my passion to keep this podcast going. Here’s my email address: dave@sasstories.com Thank you to all of you who have reached out to me already!! Please keep those emails and texts coming…I truly look forward to hearing from you!
On another note: I am a strong advocate and supporter of Survivor School (SS), founded and directed by CEO Arci Grey (another former guest on SASS). In fact, Arci has made me a consultant to SS as she maneuvers the intricacies of directing and managing the content and growth of her amazing organization. I encourage you to strongly consider becoming a member of SS, and as an affiliate would appreciate it, if you do decide to become a member, to use this link: https://www.survivor-school.com/free?ref=SASS
Thanks again for listening! As always, listed below are some additional important and meaningful websites I hope you’ll take a look at and learn more about.
https://www.whattheydontsay.com
https://www.survivor-school.com/?ref=DAVEMARKEL
My email address:
It’s time to Normalize the Conversation.™ And please remember to Start by Believing…because we all know someone whose life has been impacted by rape or sexual assault.
Thank you for tuning in.