Liana Shanti seated confidently in a black-and-white editorial portrait

TRUTH + ADVOCACY + LOVE

Some truths are too important
to leave in the dark.

Liana Shanti has spent decades standing beside people whose voices were ignored, disbelieved or deliberately silenced–from political prisoners and religious refugees to survivors of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence.

She speaks because silence protects the wrong people.

THIS DIDN’T BEGIN ONLINE

Advocacy has always been
part of the work.

Prior to her spiritual leadership role, Liana served as a Wall Street attorney at Skadden, Arps–one of the world’s top-ranked law firms–working in international arbitration and dispute resolution.

Alongside her corporate work, she devoted extensive time and expertise to pro-bono asylum cases for people facing religious persecution and gender-based violence.

Her clients included Tibetan monks and nuns who had been imprisoned and tortured by the PRC and escaped Tibet across the Himalayan mountains with support from the Dalai Lama’s government in exile. She also represented women who had experienced gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation at a time when it was not yet recognized as a human-rights violation.

Liana was successful in 100% of her petitions to have asylum granted–including cases she took to the court of appeals.

The setting has changed. The willingness to stand beside people facing powerful systems has not.
01WALL STREET LAW

Skadden, Arps

Working at the highest levels of law while developing a clear understanding of institutions, power and the record.

02PRO-BONO ADVOCACY

Political asylum

Representing victims of religious persecution and gender-based violence–and securing asylum for every client she represented.

0315+ YEARS

Healing at the root

Helping women heal core wounds, narcissistic relationships and family abuse while reclaiming self-trust.

0490+ COUNTRIES

Freedom worldwide

Teaching sovereignty, free will and self-love to an international community–with zero tolerance for authoritarianism of any kind.

FROM ATTORNEY TO HEALER

She left the law firm.
She did not leave the truth behind.

Even while practicing corporate law, Liana became someone colleagues sought out for personal and spiritual guidance. Her secretary once gave her a sign for her office door that read, “The doctor is in”–telling her, “You’re a healer, not a lawyer.”

In 2001, Liana experienced the September 11 attacks while eight months pregnant in New York City. A near-death experience during childbirth followed the next month. Together, those events forced her to confront what she already knew: her life was meant to be devoted to healing.

She left corporate law and ultimately built a body of work that has helped thousands of women across more than 90 countries.

WHAT SHE CONTINUES TO STAND FOR

Advocacy means refusing
to look away.

Liana speaks plainly about incest, childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence and destructive family systems so survivors have language for experiences they may have carried alone.

She teaches women to trust themselves, reclaim their sovereignty, strengthen their boundaries and choose healing without protecting appearances.

She speaks openly about Jesus and models faith as courage, love, discernment and a willingness to stand beside people whose voices have been dismissed.

The through-line is simple: believe that healing is possible, tell the truth about what causes harm and help people find their own voice.

THE TRUTH SHE REFUSES TO LOOK AWAY FROM

Healing does not always make the truth more comfortable.
Sometimes it makes the truth impossible to keep avoiding.

Silence is often presented as peace. In families and systems organized around denial, it can become protection for the person who caused harm–and another burden placed on the person already carrying it.

Liana’s work has encouraged women to recognize abuse, trust what their bodies and lives are showing them, name what happened, and stop sacrificing their healing to protect appearances.

That truth can disrupt relationships, families, and communities. But for someone who has spent years feeling alone, confused, or disbelieved, hearing another person speak plainly can become the beginning of freedom.

DENY · ATTACK · REVERSE VICTIM AND OFFENDER

This is
DARVO.

DARVO is the documented pattern in which alleged wrongdoing is denied, the person confronting it is attacked, and the roles of victim and offender are reversed.

Speaking publicly about abuse can bring disbelief, criticism, and retaliation. One pattern that helps explain this response is DARVO: deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender.

It can redirect attention away from what a survivor or advocate is naming and toward an attack on the person who spoke. Recognizing the pattern helps keep the original harm from disappearing beneath the reaction to its exposure.

This is why advocacy requires more than speaking once. It requires staying grounded when the conversation is turned against the people who refused silence.
D
DENY

Discredit the abuse.

Minimize, dismiss, or deny what a survivor or witness says happened.

A
ATTACK

Investigate the messenger.

Move attention from the reported harm to the character, motives, or imperfections of the person speaking about it.

RVO
REVERSE VICTIM + OFFENDER

Make the advocate the danger.

Recast the person confronting harm as the problem and the person accused of causing it as the injured party.

Naming the pattern keeps the focus where it belongs: on truth, protection, healing, and the people who found the courage to speak.

THE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND WHY SHE SPEAKS

Her voice has helped other women
find their own.

These are just some of the many words shared by students who understand what it costs to expose darkness and what it can mean to see someone refuse to be silenced.

THE LOVE BENEATH THE TRUTH

Truth and love
are not opposites.

Sometimes love comforts. Sometimes love protects. Sometimes love names what happened, refuses to participate in silence, and stands beside the person who was harmed.

WHY SHE CONTINUES

She did not begin speaking because it was easy, popular, or without consequence.
She speaks because silence has consequences too.

Speaking publicly about abuse can bring disbelief, criticism, and retaliation. Liana has experienced substantial backlash, yet continues to do what is right for victims of abuse.

THE LOVE IN ACTION

The point was never darkness.
The point was helping people find their way out of it.

Women feeling believed.

Survivors finding language.

Shame beginning to loosen.

People choosing healing, faith, and a different future.

The students are speaking. The work is changing lives.
And the light has already won.

YOUR EXPERIENCE BELONGS HERE

Did Liana’s willingness to speak help you name the truth,
feel less alone, or begin healing?

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