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 Our mission is to give voice and face to rape survivors, offering a sense of solidarity and possibility to those who have lived through abuse, while raising awareness of how this human rights and public health issue impacts victims, families and communities. To do this we have created a national network of sexual assault survivors willing to stand up and speak out about the rape and abuse they have endured. Our goal is to put names and faces on the epidemic of sexual assault, addressing the issue in not only personal but also political terms. The Voices and Faces Project was created for - and is largely funded and staffed by - survivors who have rejected the shame, invisibility and silence thrust upon them by the broader culture. One in four women and one in six men will be victims of sexual abuse in their lifetime. By speaking out, we hope to change that. |
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 For too long, survivors of rape and sexual abuse have been shamed into silence, and invisibility. Even today, the media regularly blots out survivor faces and names, a practice that protects but also further isolates those of us who have been raped and abused. Participants in The Voices and Faces Project are speaking truth to both power and perpetrator. We are sharing our names, faces and stories in order to shift the national and international discourse on rape and abuse - a discourse in which victims are too often blamed, perpetrators too infrequently held accountable. |
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 Civic and political engagement is a critical component of The Voices and Faces Project. Our Speakers Bureau and Community Outreach Program make our survivor and advocate participants available to community groups, legislators, policymakers and the media, with the end goal of providing both a personal and political perspective on sexual assault. Our participants have shared their stories with the United Nations Global Report On Violence Against Children... consulted with the Congressional Commission investigating sexual assault in the military... lobbied for the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act... spoken to dozens of community groups... and appeared in local and national media, speaking to the social costs of sexual violence. Through The Voices and Faces Project permanent archive, we are building a valuable resource for advocates, policymakers and all who seek to better understand the long-term impact of rape and abuse. By compiling stories through our interactive survivor survey and testimonial writing workshop where survivors write about the injustice that they have lived or witnessed, we are building an ever-expanding and first-of-its-kind record of the impact of rape and abuse on individuals, families and communities. The Voices and Faces Project book, audio documentary, and photographic exhibition are just three of the initiatives our survivors are currently participating in. All of these creative projects are being developed by rape survivors, for the broader community, with the end goal of addressing the complexities of rape and abuse in a creative and politically compelling way. |
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 We want The Voices and Faces Project to be a resource and source of inspiration not only for rape survivors, but for those who care for and work with them, including:
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