Amanda Householder, daughter of Boyd and Stephanie Householder, recently spoke out on TikTok about alleged mental, physical and sexual abuse caused by her parents in a Christian boarding school in Missouri called the Circle of Hope ranch.
Since then, hundreds of girls have been speaking up about similar abuse and experiences that they’ve been hiding for years.
Here’s how the voices have been raised through social media.
What is the Circle of Hope?
Until recently, parents would send their troubled teen girls to a Christian boarding school called Circle of Hope, where it was marketed that they would use equestrian style methods to help troubled teens find their path in life.
This was until the daughter of Boyd and Stephanie Householder, the owners of Circle of Hope, was kicked out at the age of 17 for telling a five-year-old girl; “Your mum won’t go to hell for wearing pants”.
As quoted from Amanda Householder, Circle of Hope allegedly used religion against the girls to get them to do what they are told, telling the girls that they could go to hell if they particpated in certain things.
The alleged abuse documented on TikTok
Ten months ago, Amanda Householder created TikTok videos to try and spread the word of what she claimed was happening at Circle of Hope. Authorities didn’t believe her at first so she used her platform to spread awareness and reach out to other girls who had experienced similar.
Many girls and boys are posting their experiences on the TikTok account @exposingagapeboyranch, which was originally set up for the Circle of Hope but is now used for another similar boarding school for boys.
One of Amanda’s first TikTok videos has reached a 2.1million views and counting, which shows just a small portion of the abuse that she suffered.
When Amanda was asked what the worst thing that she saw or heard of at the Circle of Hope, Amanda said that she and another girl were forced to restrained a disabled woman.
Where is the Circle of Hope now?
After hundreds of girls reached out to Amanda and shared their own abuse on the TikTok page, Circle of Hope has now been shut down and the website has been removed.
