11/11/2025
“When I was 16, I thought sexual assault was something that happened in dark alleys, by strangers with knives. I had no idea you could be r***d by the person you loved.”
Those are the words of Thordis Elva — a young girl who trusted, who loved, and who was betrayed by someone she thought would protect her. What happened that night changed her life forever.
For years, she carried the silence — the guilt, the confusion, the feeling that maybe it was her fault. But it wasn’t. It never is.
Years later, she turned her pain into purpose, co-authoring South of Forgiveness and using her voice to shatter the myths that keep survivors quiet.
Her story reminds us that assault doesn’t always happen in the shadows — sometimes, it happens right next to someone who says they love you.
At VenusGuard, we’re building tools to protect women before the harm happens — to make sure no girl ever has to learn safety through survival.
Read Thordis’s full story here:
👉 The Forgiveness Project: Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger
Protect women: rape-stop.com
