Flip Rodriguez held a powerful virtual event for FightChildAbuse.Org

Alert: This post includes mentions of child abuse and sexual abuse.

During season eight of the show, American Ninja Warrior competitor Flip Rodriguez bravely shared that he had been the victim of sexual abuse. Now, he’s working with FightChildAbuse.Org to educate teens on how to protect themselves and others around them.

Flip recently gave a virtual event for the website. It’s all about one of Flip’s biggest calls to action: Get comfortable being uncomfortable. By opening a dialogue around incredibly difficult subjects, he hopes to help others express themselves and understand what’s okay and what’s not okay. The video is geared toward teenagers.

In the video, Flip shares some deeply personal details of his own experiences. He discusses how fears and depression shaped his experience with abuse and led to him wearing a mask on his early American Ninja Warrior seasons. These crucial messages are tied in with obstacle training and some American Ninja Warrior stories.

FightChildAbuse.Org features a library of videos and tools for educating children and teens on protecting themselves. From their site:

“The nonprofit Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center Foundation in conjunction with Wonder Media and the Joshua Center on Child Sexual Abuse at the University of Washington has developed a global campaign on child abuse awareness and prevention. The program has been developed and scripted by child advocates, therapists, and national scholars.

The objective of the program is to educate all ages of children about what to do when confronted with abusive behavior such as safe and unsafe touches and other physical and emotional abuse.”

Season 13 of American Ninja Warrior marks Flip’s tenth year on the show. He’s made it to the National Finals seven previous times. We’ll still need to wait a while to find out if there’s another trip to Vegas in Flip’s future. But in the meantime, he’s showing his Ninja Warrior spirit through his work to help others.