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Today, a handful of sexual assault survivors have broken through what was once a cultural barrier against speaking out about rape, writing powerful and moving accounts of their experiences. The existing literature of sexual violence is tremendously valuable. It goes a long way toward helping society in general - and survivors in particular - understand sexual assault as a social epidemic and human rights issue of great import.
And yet this is not enough. We need a literature of violence against women that is comparable to the literature of war: a chorus of different voices, and unique perspectives, that speak to the tremendous power and impact of sexual violence.
Few books about sexual assault show the actual faces of the survivors who have lived through it. And fewer still celebrate the strength, beauty and individuality of sexual assault survivors in a series of photographs that literally puts names and faces on the national epidemic of sexual assault. We want to change that.
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Through a series of black and white photographs and narrative portraits, The Voices and Faces Project will show that the experience of sexual violence transcends all racial, social and economic boundaries. Like the coffee-table books Mothers and Daughters or Sisters (Doubleday), The Voices and Faces Project will place the stories of better-known rape survivors alongside those of "ordinary" women: blue and pink collar workers, executives, artists, activists, PTA moms.
Each photograph will be set in a context that represents the survivor's life today: who they are, where they live, what it is that is most important to them. Each written profile will capture the broader identity of the survivor, showing that while these women and men have been shaped by the violence done to them, they are greater than their trauma.
The written narratives that accompany each photo will be developed through a series of survivor-to-survivor discussions between writer Anne Ream, photographer Patricia Evans, and each of the women and men featured. An unspoken trust often exists between survivors - one that makes both the collaboration between Ream and Evans, and their interactions with the men and women they are documenting, far more intimate and dimensional. This will make for a series of portraits that shows the healing power of sharing traumatic experiences, and defying the secrecy often imposed on survivors by the culture.
The Voices and Faces Project was a finalist for the 2004 Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize. The book release date is TBD.
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In the words of rape survivor Katie Feifer, "I'm a survivor - in no small part because of so many people, so many supportive actions. A lot of them were little things - acceptance, compassion, kindness and thoughtfulness. That was all, but it was everything."
The support and acceptance Katie received as a rape survivor helped her to move forward, and gave her the strength to do something extraordinary - face her attacker. Read Katie's story now to find out what happened.
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