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I always think about how my life could have been different if had I known back then a story like what ended up happening to me.
– Survivor1
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I read stories similar to mine. It made me realize even though it was traumatic, and I still have lots of work to do, I am not alone.
– Survivor2
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Lived experience informs structural and social change. When we share, we heal.
– Grace Tame, Survivor and Australian of the Year 20215
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Words seemed to make it visible… Speaking, even when it embarrassed me, also slowly freed me from the shame I’d felt. The more I struggled to speak, the less power the rape and its aftermath seemed to have over me.
– Survivor6
Share your story
Survivors have not necessarily ever heard a story like theirs before. Hearing similar stories can provide validation, make survivors feel less alone, and demonstrate that personal resilience is possible after trauma and sexual assault. Sharing one’s story too can be healing under the right circumstances. You own your story, and the decision to share or not to share is entirely yours—only you can decide if you want to and if the time is right.3 Submissions can be featured on www.herstory.global, our survivor stories page, as well as our social media pages and newsletter. Any featured submissions will be featured anonymously. Before submitting your story, please read our terms of use.
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You are not a victim for sharing your story. You are a survivor setting the world on fire with your truth. And you never know who needs your your light, your warmth, your raging courage.
– Alex Elle, American author4
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One day you will tell your story of how you’ve overcome what you are going through now, and it will become part of someone else’s survival guide.
– Unknown
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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
– Maya Angelou, American poet, memoirist, civil rights activist, and survivor
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What are the words you do not yet have? What do you
need to say? There are so many silences to be broken.
– Audre Lorde, 20th century American writer and civil rights activist
Sources:
1. Morton, R. (Retrieved 25 Sep 2020). I Was Raped and Broken. So I Picked up My Camera. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/07/opinions/rosem-morton-sexual-assault-cnnphotos/
2. Bielski, Z. (20 Mar 2016). How Politeness Conditioning Can Lead to Confusion About Sexual Assaults. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/how-politeness-conditioning-can-lead-to-confusion-about-sexual-assults/article29294471/
3. See, for example, Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and Recovery. New York: Basic Books.
4. Elle, A. (Retrieved 18 October 2020).
5. (26 January 2021). Grace Tame’s full Australian of the Year speech. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-26/grace-tames-full-australian-of-the-year-speech/13091640?nw=0
6. (Retrieved 12 Feb 2020). Rapehurts.org. https://www.rapehurts.org/irene-testimonial/