After a long and winding journey in her life, Amanda Nguyen is ready to share her story of becoming an activist after being a victim of rape while studying at Harvard.
The book titled "Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope" chronicles the survival and hope of this Vietnamese-descent woman. The chaos of her childhood, her healing process from sexual assault, and her heart-wrenching journeys are woven together in this touching work.
Amanda Nguyen's book will be released on March 4, 2025, and is already available for pre-order on various platforms.
Complicated Legal Policies for Victims
The bitter experience she faced in 2013 rapidly changed the trajectory of her life. She realized how difficult it was to seek justice as a sexual assault victim. This revelation drove her to fight for her rights and the rights of other women, momentarily setting aside her dream of joining NASA.
Initially, Amanda filed her rape case anonymously, but discovered her rape kit was destroyed after six months, preventing legal action. In Massachusetts, where the crime occurred, rape kits were routinely destroyed after six months, despite the 15-year statute of limitations for reporting sexual violence. This policy required victims to file extension requests every six months to preserve their rape kit and access to justice.
Recognizing the burden of this policy, Amanda did not give up. In 2014, she founded the nonprofit organization "Rise" to advocate for the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act.
Her efforts were not in vain. The law was unanimously passed by Congress and signed by former U.S. President Barack Obama on October 7, 2016. The legislation provides survivors the right to free medical exams, mandates forensic evidence be kept at least until the legal time limit for rape cases, and offers victims the option to extend this period when requesting notification before a rape kit containing forensic evidence is destroyed.
Amanda's hard work has resulted in the introduction and passage of similar laws in more than 20 states nationwide, and she is developing an International Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Resolution currently under consideration by the UN General Assembly.
The Gift of Amanda's Patience and Efforts
Her inspirational story earned her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2018 and made her one of Time magazine's Women of the Year in 2022.
But that's not all. In 2024, Amanda Nguyen became the first Southeast Asian woman in space, realizing the dream she once set 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.
Becoming one of the few women successful in the male-dominated space exploration arena was both a pride and a pressure for Amanda, motivating her to inspire other women, especially women of color in America.
Her past, which once left her broken and shattered, did not make Amanda surrender. She continued to fight for what she deserved and help many other sexual violence survivors to find their voice and receive justice. Now she is an inspirational activist who has fulfilled her dream of exploring space.
