Sochil Martin is an advocate, the founder of the With You Foundation, a mother, and a survivor of a Mexican cult called Light of the World.
The first time that Sochil shared her story was with her husband. At the time of disclosing her abuse, she didn’t know at the moment that she was in a cult. It was when her husband brought to her attention what she was experiencing and that she was a part of a cult.
“It was very difficult to listen to my husband because the church cult was all that I knew. This was my family, this was my history, and this was everything to me. I was born and I was raised into this organization. My aunts, my uncles, my grandparents, and my great grandparents were a part of this organization and this was my world and it was my husband's world as well. When my husband saw the text messages that my leader sent to me, my husband was in awe and wanted to speak to me. He told me that this was not a blessing and I don’t know what they’ve been telling you your whole life, but this is wrong….what they have done to you is wrong.”
In this moment, Sochil believed what her husband told her but it took awhile for Sochil to understand that her aunt, her legal guardian which she considered her mother, did this to her. Sochil also didn’t understand how the apostle, the one who was taking care of her soul, who would guide her to heaven, and who had known Sochil her whole life, would do this to her.
“All the hurt and all the pain that I was going through for so many years, was in fact, real and it wasn’t just me being a rebel with God. It was real and it was being done to me. My husband and I were hurt, and at the time, I was still processing and I didn’t know how to cope with everything…it was really helpful that my husband supported me. He couldn’t understand how other fathers and husbands aren’t there for their wives and daughters. He said that they should believe them and help them, and it broke his heart that husbands and fathers didn’t support the women in their lives.”
Sochil went on a quest to separate from the cult with her husband and her daughter. She responds on the ways in which anti-sexual violence organizations around the nation can keep children and parents safe from cults.
“When I left the cult, I needed a guide. I was all alone and I lived in front of the organization. Many times, the organization went after me, and my husband, to end our lives. We were so vulnerable and we were stuck in situations where people would take advantage of me, my story, and my family. If I had known of an organization, like RAINN, that could have helped my hand during the entire process, I would have been in a much different circumstance. Organizations like RAINN bring a safe haven to survivors...”
“[Furthermore], we also need organizations to bring awareness to cults, and this can be a game changer. We need survivors of cults who speak about these organizations and institutions, and I believe RAINN is doing that and I’m really grateful for that.”