(Trigger Warning: sexual assault, survivor stories)
Last Monday, December 4th, Boston University’s HeForShe organization hosted Survivors, a gallery dedicated to the art created by sexual assault survivors. Survivors Magazine, a publication developed by NYU student Maria Polzin, inspired the exhibit. Looking to address the “stigma surrounding survivors of sexual violence,” HeForShe member and the woman behind the event, Hadley Alter (CAS ’19) wanted an event where survivors could come together and share their artwork.
I walked into the HeForShe: Survivors event expecting to leave with a sense of heaviness. Sexual assault and misconduct is unfortunately very prevalent in all of our lives. I feel confident in saying that a number of my peers know someone who have been sexually assaulted or harassed. Though my experiences with sexual misconduct have been limited to unwarranted catcalls on the street and groping at parties, I understand there are many people who have experienced far worse. Alter put together this gallery in order to give those survivors “a place that supported survivors and brought awareness to the epidemic of gender-based violence.”
Therefore, that sense of heaviness that I expected to feel was false. Though I was touched by the gallery and in awe of the bravery of the survivors, I left with a sense of hope. That hope has been with me since the beginning of the #MeToo campaign — that change is coming. People are talking. What has been so long ignored, so long pushed off as an issue of, “Well, they were asking for it” or “What were you wearing?” could potentially become questions of the past. And the HeForShe: Survivors exhibit captured that hope.
The event last Monday would not have been born without Maria Polzin, a current NYU student who started the print magazine Survivors. Polzin, partnering with The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault, decided to create this magazine to “use fashion & photography to empower victims of sexual assault & spread awareness about sexual violence.”
Several of the photos in the gallery were of participants in the magazine. Polzin placed an inherent importance on the aspect of control in the magazine, something that I really admired. The survivors, aka the participants, were given control over their photo shoot. Some chose to return to the place of their assault, while some chose to be photographed practicing their passion. During her speech, Polzin highlighted the importance of reclaiming space. In a society where victims are made to feel weak — are made to feel defined by the worst thing that has ever happened to them — Polzin is creating an outlet where they can break down those barriers.
Alter and Polzin, friends from childhood, partnered together to promote the magazine at BU and showcase BU students’ artwork. I’ve included some of the pieces that really touched me throughout this article, but there were numerous beautiful submissions that “expressed reclamation of narrative, body, or mind,” according to Alter.
Both Alter and Polzin sought to give young survivors a voice, as they both promote the importance of gender equality through their respective works. Polzin is working on a Survivors anthology called Reclamation, due to be out next year. During the gallery, Polzin stressed the importance of reminding everyone that sexual assault affects all genders and sexualities, and her anthology is striving to represent that. Alter’s organization, HeForShe, also strives to end gender-based discrimination.
HeForShe: Survivors is only a piece to the puzzle of bringing awareness to sexual assault. According to RAINN, almost 25% of undergraduate women experience rape or sexual assault, and that was a statistic Alter hoped to shed light on through the exhibit.
“These are people we sit next to in class, on the bus, our professors and our friends,” said Alter. “I just wanted to create a space that showed survivors we stand with them.”
Ultimately, I believe that Alter, Polzin, and the other members of HeForShe BU and Survivors Magazine have worked to create a safe space of reclamation for survivors. I left the gallery uplifted by the courage of the survivors that shared their stories, and the hope that change is on its way. And it’s on its way fast.
Check out Survivors Magazine on Facebook and Instagram! Buy the magazine here.
Join BU HeForShe! Check out their social media here and here.
Cover photo Credit: HeForSheBU
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