Elizabeth Smart Urges Women to Prioritize Personal Safety

The abduction survivor is advocating for women to trust their intuition over societal expectations of politeness.

Updated on Oct. 16, 2026 in Sex Crimes

Bold flat-color editorial illustration showing a large, minimalist iron latch, evoking themes of personal security and self-protection. — Elizabeth Smart is urging women to prioritize their physical safety and trust their instincts, even when it conflicts with societal expectations of politeness. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted at age 14, is advising women to prioritize their own safety over the fear of being polite. She emphasizes that being raised to value politeness over her own intuition contributed to the danger she faced during her captivity.

Why it matters

Smart advocates that trusting gut instincts is a vital tool for personal protection. She argues that women should feel empowered to prioritize their safety even if it means potentially offending others.

Elizabeth Smart was rescued by police in a Salt Lake City suburb in March 2003 after being held captive for nine months. The perpetrator was convicted, and the case remains a landmark in child abduction and recovery investigations.

The players

Elizabeth Smart

She is a survivor of a high-profile child abduction who now advocates for personal safety and self-defense.

The details

Smart now uses her platform, including her podcast The Survivor Files and her self-defense program Smart Defense, to share lessons learned from her experience. She encourages women to disregard social norms when those norms conflict with their physical safety.

March 2003: Elizabeth Smart was rescued by police.
2013: Elizabeth Smart published her book My Story.
April 2026: Elizabeth Smart won a bodybuilding competition.

Legal Context

The Elizabeth Smart kidnapping remains a defining event in the evolution of missing child protocols. This advocacy extends the lessons learned from that incident by focusing on personal safety and the psychological empowerment of survivors.

Smart's advocacy encourages individuals to re-evaluate social interactions where politeness might compromise personal boundaries. This message prompts a shift in how people, especially women, might react in situations where their safety is at risk.

The takeaway

Smart emphasizes that the obligation to be polite should never supersede the necessity of staying safe. Readers are encouraged to trust their instincts in uncomfortable situations rather than conforming to social pressures.