Shari Karney Speaker Biography
Shari Karney is an indefatigable force that uses her legal expertise to champion the rights of women and children, and she does so with passion. A driving influence who has the guts to get laws passed, she used her experience in and out of the courthouse to help pioneer legislation that changed the law for survivors of sexual abuse and set the foundations for the landmark legislation that started the movement for rape justice.
A widely respected legal expert on breaking news cases, she has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox Television, Inside Edition, CBC (Canada), and hundreds of other television and radio shows. She was legal expert on the Penn State child sexual assault trial, and gave commentary on the Jerry Sandusky Trial, Penn State. She has been a legal analyst and commentator for top breaking legal stories for 15 years.
Shari’s work on behalf of child sexual abuse victims was the subject of an NBC TV-movie called Shattered Trust, The Shari Karney Story. National ratings showed that every third television in America was tuned to Shari’s compelling story. After the movie aired, NBC and their affiliates were inundated with thousands of calls from people who wanted to contact Shari. They all asked when and where they could see her. Child Help USA received so many calls after the movie, that their phone lines went down. The Capitol switchboard in Washington, D.C., was flooded with calls of people who wanted to have their voices heard. They all asked for Shari's bill to be passed nationally.
Shari Karney consulted with the California Women’s Law Center to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for victims of rape, sexual assault and continuous child sexual abuse, to give victims the justice they so desperately seek and have too long been deprived of in California. Governor Jerry Brown signed the Justice for Victims Act legislation into law (SB 813) on 28 September 2016 after it received bipartisan support and praise from law enforcement and women’s rights advocates.
It can take years for victims of child sexual abuse, rape, and sexual violence, to feel strong enough to take action so that their perpetrators are held accountable. Legislation SB 813 gives victims a chance to have their day in court.
Ms. Karney would like to eliminate both the criminal and civil statute of limitations nationwide for victims of sexual assault, rape and continuous child sexual abuse.
Currently, Ms. Karney is working on historic landmark civil rights legislation to protect the human and civil rights of victims of sexual assault, rape, and continuous childhood sexual abuse. For the first time in history, victims of sexual assault, rape, and child sexual abuse, would have their rights constitutionally protected under the same chapter that protects human rights.
Overcoming Adversity: The Shari Karney Story
There was a time, when a young Shari would have told you she came from the perfect family. Her mother was a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, her father, a successful writer for a business magazine. The Karney family won Family of the Year in 1956, Culver City, California. This perfect family fairy tale came crashing down while Shari was defending a three-year old child who had been sexually molested by her father. Shari’s life began to unravel during cross-examination of the defendant. After serving two nights in jail for attempting to strangle the father-perpetrator on the witness stand, Shari was forced to come to terms with her own past.
In this mesmerizing message, Shari shares her amazing story of determination in the face of unimaginable adversity. Her speech not only tells her personal story, but also discusses topics such as overcoming extreme adversity, the important process of recovery, and seeing adversity as an opportunity for growth and inspiration. Shari knows first hand that there is nothing more important than having hope in a challenging situation. Rather than hiding from her past, she is using her traumatic circumstances to inspire and help others heal and find hope in facing difficult life challenges.
Helping Women Find Their Voice
Never in my wildest dreams as a child could I have ever imagined going from a fearful, hurt, voiceless little girl to becoming a worldwide symbol of hope, national spokesperson, attorney and author --giving voice to the voiceless. Her speech will help any woman who feels silenced, invisible, talked over, interrupted, talked down to, passed over, passed up, lonely, anxious, depressed, invisible. Finding your voice and using it to overcome adversity and challenges.
Conquering Child Abuse
- One-in-three girls and one-in-five boys are victims of child sexual abuse.
- Worldwide, the United Nations reported that there are 150 million girls and 73 million boys under the age of who experienced sexual violence (totally 223 million of reported cases).
- Child Sexual abuse affects women 3 times more than breast cancer and affects men 1.5 times more than prostate cancer. The overall rate for child abuse and neglect is about ten times as high as the incidence rate for all forms of cancer.
- Child sexual abuse has costly consequences on survivors’ success in every aspect of life, from education to health care to lose workdays, lost productivity and lifetime earnings. A recent study recognized that each victim of child sexual abuse faces an average loss of at least $210,102 in lifetime earnings. Among US children ages 0-19 today, this costs each State’s economy more than $1 billion a year per state, averaging 50 billion a year across the United States.
As a survivor of child sexual abuse, I share my journey to my successful recovery and in the process educate on prevention, detecting understanding this epidemic.
The good news: 95% of child sexual abuse is preventable through education and awareness-not only awareness of its effects on victims, but also on the larger community. That is why it’s so impotent to educating and empowers our children and their families. A must for any organization looking to educate, inspire and protect their employees, productivity, sales, health care and human costs.
For Corporate Events: Compassionate Action in the Workplace
Corporate Motivational Speaker Shari Karney knows how to inspire employees, sales managers, and sales team to push themselves beyond their own limitations. To never give up. She teaches compassionate action in the workplace. Reserve Shari Karney now to boost employee morale and increase sales.
When individuals push themselves beyond their own perceived limits, facing difficult challenges, never giving up, everyone around them becomes inspired. Hope and optimism are infectious and hold the keys to higher productivity, increased sales, better customer service. Happy employees means happy customers. Personal and professional success begins, first and foremost, with our thoughts and beliefs. A workplace of compassion is a workplace everybody wants to be a part of. Good feelings are contagious. Employees will find their professional and personal lives opening up to new promise, ideas and fresh opportunities.
Shari’s presentations inspire people to discover their inner resources to overcome any obstacle, no matter how challenging. Combining her experience as an entrepreneur with a triumphant personal history Shari has shown audiences that they too can thrive in their organizations by reaching beyond their own perceived limitations.
COLLEGE CAMPUS LIFE –Maintaining Healthy Relationships
Relationships aren’t always easy …especially in college where you may face all kinds of relationship challenges that can be stressful to navigate such as roommate issues, sorority sisters, dorm and other friendships, casual dating, serious dating, and sex. Women in particular face unique relationship issues on campus. We often feel like we are traversing through a land mine. Whether you are involved in intramural sports, student organizations or Greek life, learn how to maintain healthy relationships so you can successfully deal with whatever comes up and have an amazing college experience. In this riveting program…
Shari will inspire participants to:
- Master Healthy College Relationships
- Fully Experience Campus Life Safely
- Enrich Personal Relationships-Set Clear Boundaries
- Explore the Pressures Facing Young Women Today
- Engage Young Women to Support Each Other
- Friends Don’t Leave Friends Behind-Protecting Women
- Triumph Through Awareness & Action
- Amplify Speaking Up & Speaking Out Safely
- Galvanize Risk Reduction-Alcohol/Drugs
- Activate Perseverance & Bravery
- Understand Enabling
- Deepen Self Awareness and Awareness of Others
- Recognizing if You Are in an Abusive Relationship
- Are you a #Me Too - Campus Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Date Rape
- Master Adversity
- Discover Your Inner Wonder Woman
- Enliven Emotional Wellness and Physical Well Being
- Construct a Community of Strong Women
An extraordinary story of triumph after sexual assault. As the Founder of the socially conscious empowerment nonprofit, ROAR as ONE, Shari Karney reveals her mission to promote positive, empowering messages for girls and women. Through her experience as a TV personality, attorney and legal pundit she understands first hand, the unique pressures facing girls and women today. Shari intimately shares her personal life story of triumph after sexual assault. She delves into current challenges facing college women on campuses across America today. Shari is passionate about her dream and vision for a new world where women are respected, honored, and empowered. Where women join together to ROAR as ONE, (Rise, Organize, Act against Rape, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Disrespect) to create a civil rights movement that protects women and children from sexual assault, sexual violence, sexual misconduct and disrespect. Where there are consistent consequences for sexually violating a woman whether that woman be a young college student, young entrepreneur, intimate other, employee, intern, family member or friend. Her battle cry (S.H.E.) to unite women, ignite a revolution and to reconstruct a community of strong women supporting one another to create civil rights for survivors is riveting, authentic, heartwarming, passion-inducing and nothing short of infectious. Her motto will quickly become your own, “Speak. Heal. Empower—Together We Can” #Me Too.
While there is endless media attention about the problem of campus sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual disrespect, child sexual abuse, violence, few people are discussing tangible solutions. In this amazing and life-changing presentation, Shari Karney starts what becomes an ongoing dialogue, asking young women the simple question, “What kind of woman do you want to be?” Shari goes much deeper than simply making audiences aware of the issues. Through tangible action, grassroots civil rights movement and community collaboration, Shari shares how to be verbal, visible and victorious.
