Emily Laster is a writer, thinker, and advocate whose life story sits at the intersection of trauma, resilience, and deep intellectual inquiry. Through lived experience, self-reflection, and fearless honesty, Emily challenges society to look closer at abuse, silence, and the invisible patterns we inherit and repeat. Humans of Fuzia features Emily for her courage to speak when silence is safer, and for her belief that awareness, education, and collective responsibility can shift generations of harm—especially for women and children.
Q: Emily, your work spans writing, advocacy, and social commentary. How do you describe what you do?
I study human behavior through lived experience. Everything I write is a response—to how people treat me, to what society normalizes, and to what it refuses to see. My work is about patterns: how trauma repeats, how silence is learned early, and how awareness can interrupt cycles that pass from one generation to the next.
Q: You often speak about silence and survival. Why is that so central to your story?
Because many people—especially women—learn silence before they learn language. Silence can be survival. But survival isn’t healing. The problem is that when silence lasts too long, it becomes normalized. Speaking up later is seen as disruption, not truth. That’s where so many women are misunderstood.
Q: Your writing often challenges traditional narratives around abuse and accountability. Why is that important to you?
Because abuse isn’t always obvious. Control, isolation, financial dependency, humiliation—these are normalized in many relationships. When women don’t recognize them as abuse, the cycle continues. Accountability starts with awareness, not blame. We have to learn to see clearly, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Q: You also talk about patterns—family, culture, society. What do you mean by that?
We don’t exist in isolation. We date within our culture, our demographics, our learned beliefs. If patterns aren’t examined, they repeat. Healing doesn’t come from denial—it comes from recognizing why we’re drawn to certain dynamics and choosing differently.
Q: Writing has played a major role in your healing. Can you share more about that?
Writing saved my life. When everything else failed—systems, people, institutions—writing gave me clarity. It allowed me to process pain without minimizing it and to transform chaos into understanding. Healing isn’t passive. Sometimes, you have to build it yourself.
Q: What keeps you going despite resistance and criticism?
Truth doesn’t need permission. Resistance usually means something important is being challenged. I don’t write to be liked—I write so fewer people feel alone, confused, or silenced. If even one woman recognizes herself and chooses safety or self-worth sooner, it’s worth it.
“Awareness is the beginning of freedom. When we see clearly, we stop repeating what once harmed us.”
Connect with Emily Laster
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