become an advocate of peer rights & stand against recovery program abuse.
Sign and share the petition in your community.
If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.
the problem
Peers and advocates in the recovery communities are working together to not only resolve this critically unaddressed and under reported issue of repeated predatory behavior in recovery community organizations (RCO's)
These programs are intended to support not, leave peers vulnerable to abuse. Predatory behavior or “13th-stepping” happens when experienced members or leadership resort to tactics such as, but not limited to manipulation, gaslighting, coercion, blame shifting, sexual exploitation, brainwashing, mental, physical or emotional abuse to maintain power or control of a peer.
Individuals who are new to recovery are often in the most broken and vulnerable time of their life. This is why individuals exhibiting predatory behavior should not have access to peers in recovery.
Even trained peer specialists can become perpetrators or fail to report misconduct. Too many survivors remain silent, unaware of their rights, and experience trauma in unsafe recovery programs.
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
#nomoresilence
The solution
- Create safe, trauma-informed recovery spaces for women and children.
- Empower peers with knowledge of their rights and ethical protections.
- Establish a submission link and hotline for reports.
- Demand accountability from program leaders and organizations.
- Provide spaces of support and healing for peers that have experienced recovery program abuse.
- Immediate revocation of certification(s) of any peer specialist exhibiting predatory behavior of any kind and immediate removal from one's position, seizing access to vulnerable peers in recovery.
- Push for policy reform that ensures recovery community organizations are ethical, safe, and supportive for generations to come.
- Push for legislation to reform and enforce consequences for ethical violations.
- Establish a peer protection coalition for empowerment and collaborative initiatives to maintain safety of peers in recovery across the country.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Report Recovery Program Abuse
Click below to report abuse or misconduct in your area. You may submit anonymously for your comfort. This is a global issue. Anyone with a story is welcome to submit their experience.
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
If you are experiencing a crisis, please contact 988 or visit 988lifeline.org
Get involved
Join the Cause
Click below to become an advocate. Stand in solidarity for those in need of a voice and those in need of critical support.
Recovery abuse workshop
Why This Matters
Recovery is not limited to substance use or mental health struggles. People from all walks of life seek healing. And every single one of them deserves safety.
Recovery spaces should be places of hope, not hunting grounds for predators. The damage of recovery program abuse is deep, lasting, and unacceptable.
Georgia proudly promotes the motto “Recovery Out Loud.” But when it comes to addressing abuse and misconduct, peers are pressured to suffer in silence. That contradiction must end.
We will no longer remain silent about abuse, ethics violations, and misconduct. Peers deserve better. Predators do not deserve to prey in peace.
Don’t praise us for being brave enough to tell our recovery stories, then expect us to be cowards and keep this part of our journey a secret.
We will speak out — about all of our recovery — because somebodies got to do it!
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
Your voice matters.
No one should have to recover from their recovery.
#nomoresilence
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