Between Sexual Violence and Healing

In the New York Times “Surviving the Long-Term Trauma of Sexual Violence," photographer Kate Ryan tells of her motivation and process in documenting the complexity of sexual assault with “Signed, X,” a collection of photographs and interviews with 29 long-term survivors of sexual assault. She asked questions:

 

What triggers you years after sexual violence?

How do you ground yourself in those moments?

Where do you carry stress?

Where do you find hope?

The goal of the project is to expand people’s thinking beyond (1) the violence and (2) being “healed” or “fixed” and to understand the lived experience of dealing with sexual violence over time.

You can find Signed, X at signedxproject.com. Signed, X is traveling across the country to gather more stories and to raise awareness of the complexities of long-term trauma and survival.