Mollie Bushart

Mollie Bushart, 22, is a VCUG survivor and Unsilenced founder from Buffalo, New York. She graduated summa cum laude after earning her B.S. in Cybersecurity from SUNY Canton. Like many others, Mollie repressed much of her traumatic experiences with the VCUG test until February 2021, when she unearthed troubling academic literature equating the psychological effects to a “violent rape.”

 

After undergoing four VCUGs in early childhood, it took Mollie years to process and come to terms with what happened to her. Diagnosed with Grade II VUR, her condition resolved spontaneously when she was 4. Although she showed symptoms of PTSD and child sexual abuse (CSA), Mollie wasn’t truly aware of this until she was older. Upon finding out about her trauma at age 19, she decided to share her story and speak out for others by actively posting in the VCUG trauma subreddit—the only digital forum at the time where survivors could speak freely.

 

When founder Shelby Smith invited fellow subreddit participants to a Zoom meeting, Mollie was one of the first participants in the room, joining other women in shedding the anonymous screen names they had been using to communicate for so long. Mollie’s impressive research skills, technical knowledge, and passion for helping others unearth the truth in their stories is truly inspiring to witness. Her courage and levelheadedness makes her an invaluable member of the Unsilenced team.

 

Today, Mollie enjoys spending time with her two pets: Solo, a 5-year-old crested gecko, and Nacho the toothless cat. When she isn’t volunteering her time and energy at Unsilenced, Mollie works as a Security Analyst Intern, although her current “dream job” is to become a math professor at the university level. Her hobbies include relaxing with Sudoku puzzles, staying active with Pokémon Go, and watching horror movies, of which she considers herself to be "quite the critic."