Kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart's powerful post about 'true intimacy' after her foundation partners with lingerie company

Elizabeth Smart has shared a poignant message about a recent partnership between a lingerie brand and her foundation, describing it as a healing experience.

Elizabeth - who was just 14 years old when she was abducted at knifepoint from her bed at her family's home in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002 - has been sharing her healing journey following the horrific ordeal that culminated in her rescue in 2003.

In an emotional post, the now 36-year-old revealed the partnership with lingerie company Mentionables, with 20 per cent of sales during Happy and Healthy Intimacy Week going to the Elizabeth Smart Foundation.

'Mentionables aligns perfectly with my thoughts and feelings around intimacy,' the public speaker, author and advocate explained on Instagram.

Elizabeth Smart has shared a poignant message about a recent partnership between lingerie brand Mentionables and her foundation; describing it as a healing experience

The mom-of-three said she wanted people to realize that one should feel 'safe, empowered, beautiful, sexy, and excited to engage with their partner instead of fear, lack of control, pain, danger, betrayal, or self loathing'

Elizabeth admitted that when she first returned home after her traumatic kidnapping, she 'didn't want to speak about what happened with anyone.'

'I wanted to hide those nine months away, and pretend they didn't happen,' she shared.

Elizabeth continued writing she knew in her head that none of the kidnapping was her fault. 

'My heart still felt embarrassment and shame over the vast amounts of sexual abuse I experienced,' she admitted in the gut-wrenching post.

'At the time, I didn't know anyone else who openly shared they had been raped or violated, and no one took the time to explain to me that there is a difference between sexual abuse/rape versus enthusiastic consenting intimacy.'

Since the 2002 ordeal, Elizabeth has gotten married, had a family, and reconciled with what happened to her, and how to deal with it.

'[I] learned that rape and true intimacy couldn't be more different,' she said.

'This partnership with Mentionables is so important to me on a personal level, because I don't want any other person to go through being raped and assaulted thinking it is the same as consenting intimacy,' Elizabeth shared.

Smart was rescued in March 2003 after someone recognized her outside and called the police (Elizabeth in pictured with her parents at the White House) 

Brian David Mitchell (left) was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and raping Smart. His wife, Wanda Barzee (right), was also in prison but was unexpectedly released in 2018

Elizabeth said she felt 'embarrassment and shame' over her ordeal and didn't want anyone to feel that when being intimate with someone 

The mom-of-three said she wanted people to realize that one should feel 'safe, empowered, beautiful, sexy, and excited to engage with their partner instead of fear, lack of control, pain, danger, betrayal, or self loathing.'

'Being able to enjoy every aspect of consenting relationships should be a basic human right,' Elizabeth pointed out.

'Being able to enhance romantic and passionate situations should be encouraged and embraced, and for me that means beautiful and sexy lingerie.'

Elizabeth concluded the post by saying that everything they did through her foundation was 'to help prevent what happened to me from happening to anyone else, as well as trying to educate and promote more compassion within communities on how to respond to survivors sharing their stories.'

Elizabeth was 14 years old when she was kidnapped from her Utah home by a street preacher and held in captivity in the woods for nine months 

She established the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in 2011, which fights against sexual violence and promotes educational programs such as the Smart Talk podcast, and self-defense training for women and young girls. 

The launch was inspired by her traumatic experience from being abducted from her Salt Lake City bedroom at knifepoint by street preacher Brian David Mitchell, who climbed through an open window.

She was held captive for nine months in a camp in the woods, where Mitchell performed a mock wedding ceremony before raping her for the first time.

To keep her from escaping, she was tied up with steel cables in a dugout filled with mice and spiders.

Elizabeth was forced to take drugs and drink alcohol, she testified in 2009, and was raped daily — as often as four times a day.

She was rescued in March 2003 after a couple recognized Mitchell and Barzee from an episode of America's Most Wanted, and called the police.

Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and raping Elizabeth. Barzee was also in prison, but was unexpectedly released in 2018. Her initial sentence was set to go until 2024.