People that experience sexual abuse often can’t find the words to explain the emotions they’re left with. One project at Ohio University is planning on changing this.
It Happens Here, a branch of EmBODY Consent and F--k Rape Culture, has created a website dedicated to telling the stories of sexual assault survivors.
This project is meant to give the public a new way to view the problem of rape culture.
The website was modeled after other colleges’ It Happens Here initiatives. Through the It Happens Here Ohio University website, students can anonymously send in their stories. There are no restrictions on the form those stories can take.
“This is just about sharing stories,” said Madison Koenig, a creator of the It Happens here website and a junior studying English. “We’re not trying to be gatekeepers.”
Several people have already submitted their stories and It Happens Here Ohio University plans to start publishing them next week. As of right now visitors to the website can read stories from Middlebury College in Vermont.
“This isn’t a one-time project,” Koenig said. “It’s connected to the international movement.”
Although the project is more geared toward text-based submissions, It Happens Here will also accept visual or video aspects as long as they help with the goal of telling survivors’ stories.
Colleen Taylor, a leader of EmBODY Consent and a senior studying political science, said the stories aren’t just limited to women. People who identify with any gender identity are encouraged to tell their stories.
Because it is common for victims to have a hard time expressing how they feel, It Happens Here offers a confidential way to contact writers that will help put those feelings into words.
Survivors can visit the It Happens Here Ohio University website and share their experiences through the submit story link.
“The goal is to make people more aware that they know survivors,” Taylor said.
tt31512@ohiou.edu
This article appeared in print under the headline "Sexual abuse awareness project begins"
