The R.I.S.E. Approach to Serving Survivors of Sexual Violence

Part 1: The problem

Raise a hand and put a finger down for every statistic that you've heard:

1. 1 in 6 American girls and women have been the victim of attempted or completed rape.

2. 1 in 3 American girls and women have been the victim of other sexual abuse.

3. 1 in 38 boys and men have been the victim of attempted or completed rape.

4. 1 in 6 boys and men have been the victim of other sexual abuse.

5. A quarter of American college women have been the victim of sexual assault.

6. Only about 25% of rape is reported to the police.

7. The majority of rape is committed by a perpetrator that the victim knows.

8. Nine out of 10 victims are women.

9. The LGBTQ+ community faces higher rates of victimization.

10. Women of color face the highest rates of victimization.

We're willing to bet that you have at least a couple of fingers down, if not two entire hands. That's because the faction of society who is willing to acknowledge and speak on sexual violence has done a lot of work to bring awareness to the topic of sexual violence. While we believe that awareness is a necessary and important base for combatting this issue, it is the bare minimum and does not do much to support survivors who are painfully aware that they are included somewhere in these statistics but do not gain much understanding from them other than the fact that they are not alone. While it's important to know they're not alone and that fact can be very comforting at first, it doesn't mean much if our communities do little to support them in their healing journeys, leaving them to continually feel isolated and questioning why these supports do not exist. Is it because other people have just moved on and they're doing something wrong? Is it because they truly are alone in their community? The answer to both of those questions is a definite no, but to a survivor looking for resources and failing to be supported, they often times feel like a yes.

When a survivor reaches out for support and asks what they can do to move forward, many U.S. survivors are typically told that they have a few options: report, go to therapy, and maybe talk to friends and family. While these options are very helpful for some, there is no denying that they are extremely limited and do not connect survivors to other survivors. Reporting is notably traumatizing. Therapy is not something everyone wants to do, has the access to do, or has the time or willingness to do. Talking to friends and family can be wonderful, if they are supportive and can empathize with the survivor over potentially extended periods of time- but not every survivor has people in their life they feel comfortable opening up to, and some are frustratingly let down, or are simply met with loved ones who do not know how to best help. Many survivors are left to learn how to cope on their own, which is often a lifetime endeavor considering the long-term impacts of sexual assault.

Part 2: The Solution

There are undeniably many gaps in services to survivors of sexual violence, and we truly believe that there are simple ways that we can better serve survivors. In 2021, our founder conducted a research project for her doctoral dissertation with survivors in Phoenix, Arizona, and sought to understand how survivors move forward after sexual violence, and what justice, healing, and moving forward meant to them. While the majority agreed that justice was a word they could not connect with, they had concrete examples of how they personally found healing and ways of moving forward through wellness and other activities across the socio-ecological spectrum. On the personal and interpersonal levels, survivors stated that they found healing through several wellness activities.

Survivors often participated in yoga, meditation, nature activities like hiking, walking and running, exercise classes and fitness in a gym setting, journaling, arts and crafts, gardening, writing, talking with others, sharing their experiences in respectful spaces, and connecting with others who had been through similar things. These activities, however, were personally funded and often times done in isolation. At Survivors R.I.S.E., we do not believe that survivors should have to foot the bill of choosing to heal from the violence that was done to them. We also believe from the words of these participants that doing these activities in isolation was helpful to an extent, and could have been enhanced by being around others who share a similar experience and are intentionally choosing to move forward in a similar way.

We believe that healing happens in community. We believe that providing these activities in community with others is beneficial to survivors and very possible to do. After other extensive research and hearing from our own community, we knew we had no choice: we had to offer these activities within this specific group of people who demonstrate the best of resilience, courage, and hope, yet are often left to access these activities alone. Survivors are undeniably so strong and powerful. Even still, no one who is seeking community after this trauma deserves to be left on their own. Those who don't know what steps to take or are seeking community deserve to find it. Although our work was extensive in creating this nonprofit, the result is as simple as that: bring survivors together and offer ways of finding wellness, based on what survivors state that they want or need.

Our unique survivor-driven model is just beginning to be implemented in the Phoenix area, and we are excited to offer these services while we network, grow, and implement other plans. We also believe in Restorative Justice and plan to offer this programming in the near future. We also hope to offer cash assistance to survivors to contribute to the $122,000+ average debt that survivors take on as a result of being victimized. Additionally, we love to hear from survivors directly. What we have done is the direct result of asking and listening to survivors, a group whom we were told would be reluctant to share. What we found was that no one had bothered to ask. In light of that, we hope that survivors will reach out to us with ideas for services or programs that they feel would help to support them in their journey. This nonprofit is not based on any single experience, but rather a diverse collection of experiences that we will not place a limit on, and we look forward to growing in our uniquely diverse community in the Southwest.