After an extended and winding life journey, Amanda Nguyen is able to share her story of becoming an activist after being raped while attending Harvard.
The book, titled “Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope,” chronicles the survival and hope of this Vietnamese-American woman. The chaos of her childhood, her recovery from sexual assault, and her heartbreaking journeys intertwine on this moving work.
Amanda Nguyen’s book might be released on March 4, 2025 and is now available for pre-order on various platforms.
Complicated legal rules for victims
The bitter experience she experienced in 2013 quickly modified the trajectory of her life. She realized how difficult it’s to hunt justice as a victim of sexual violence. This discovery led her to fight for her rights and the rights of other women, momentarily putting aside her dream of joining NASA.
Initially, Amanda filed a rape case anonymously, but after six months she discovered that her rape kit had been destroyed, making legal motion not possible. In Massachusetts, where the crime occurred, rape kits were routinely destroyed after six months, despite a 15-year statute of limitations on reporting sexual violence. This policy required victims to submit renewal applications every six months to take care of their rape records and access to justice.
Realizing the gravity of this policy, Amanda didn’t quit. In 2014, she founded the non-profit organization “Rise”, which goals to advertise the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act.
Her efforts weren’t in vain. The bill was passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by former U.S. President Barack Obama on October 7, 2016. The laws provides survivors with the precise to free medical examinations, requires the preservation of forensic evidence at the least until the expiration of the deadline set in rape cases, and offers victims the chance to increase that period in requesting notification before destroying a rape kit containing forensic evidence.
Amanda’s labor has resulted in similar laws being introduced and passed in over 20 states across the country, and she or he is working on a world resolution on the rights of survivors of sexual violence, currently before the UN General Assembly.
The gift of Amanda’s patience and efforts
Her inspiring story earned her a nomination for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize and included her on Time’s 2022 Women of the Year list.
But that is not all. In 2024, Amanda Nguyen became the primary Southeast Asian woman in space, realizing a dream she once put aside. Selected for the Citizen Astronaut program by Space for Humanity, she was chosen for her humanitarian work. Amanda explored space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
Being one in all the few women to reach the male-dominated arena of space exploration gave Amanda each pride and pressure, motivating her to encourage other women, especially women of color in America.
The past that after left her broken and devastated hasn’t made Amanda quit. She continued to fight for what she deserved and helped many other victims of sexual violence find their voice and get justice. Now she is an inspiring activist who has fulfilled her dream of space exploration.
