what made you decide to start different voice??
That is a great question! In my experience working with survivors, I keep hearing the same things come up over and over again.
-I am not sure what happened. I don’t know if I was raped.
-I haven’t told anyone about this. Nobody would understand.
-What happened is my fault because….
-I can’t stop thinking about it. I just can’t get over it.
The thing is, I never once heard a story where I thought that these men and women had done something to bring on the abuse. In fact, I strongly believe that you always have a right to your own body. That means that nobody deserves any form of unwanted touching no matter what they’ve done.
It was difficult to hear how so many people, who were going through similar experiences, felt so utterly alone. People described friends and family who didn’t know or didn’t understand, but I knew that there were a lot of other people who would.
Sexual violence can be traumatic and most people can’t ‘just get over it.’ Everyone takes their own time to heal and they heal in their own way. I met with people who had made official reports, felt they had talked everyone’s ear off, they had been in therapy, read every book and yet still felt they needed something more.
I think art is powerful. Music, poetry, painting or drawings all have a way of expressing things that words alone cannot. Sometimes there are no words for the hurt that you feel. That is why I have created A Different Voice.
You can share the things that you’ve created and connect with others who relate. You can post a song you found that brought you out of a particularly low period. Maybe you’ll submit a drawing that reminds you of what happened. You can read poem that helped other people find strength.
It isn’t just art, the Community Voice is a place to share your own stories with each other, find ways to be an activist, learn about consent, learn about legal news and other stuff too!
This is a community space which you can use the way you want to. You
can submit posts and let me know if you have ideas about making things
better. I hope that answers the question!
