by Stephanie Koehler
-USA-

Stephanie Koehler is a journalist and photographer residing in California. She also is an advocate for the Rape Crisis Center. The vision of “Female Perspectives on Ending Sexual Violence” is to unite women all over the world to document the pain they suffer as a result of sexual violence and the healing approach they take to grow from victim to survivor. Each installment includes a photo essay of a female survivor and is a platform to tell her story. Stephanie’s vision is to grow this project into an international sexual assault awareness campaign.

Anna, now in her early 30s, has endured many sexual assaults throughout her life. As a survivor of incest, her earliest memories of being abused by her father go back to when she was only four years old. He sexually violated her for most of her life until just three years ago, when she finally severed all ties to her family. Anna grew up in a farming community, where she experienced three additional counts of sexual assault in her teenage years by men from neighboring communities. Both of her two sisters are also incest survivors, one abused by their uncle, and the other abused by their father as well. The sisters have only spoken about their shared experiences with one another on one isolated occasion.

by Stephanie Koehler
-USA-

Stephanie Koehler is a journalist and photographer residing in California. She also is an advocate for the Rape Crisis Center. The vision of “Female Perspectives on Ending Sexual Violence” is to unite women all over the world to document the pain they suffer as a result of sexual violence and the healing approach they take to grow from victim to survivor. Each installment includes a photo essay of a female survivor and is a platform to tell her story. Stephanie’s vision is to grow this project into an international sexual assault awareness campaign.

When she was in third grade, Alex’s stepfather asked her whether she knew what the word ‘rapist’ meant. One would think that this is not exactly a term a 9-year-old could fully comprehend. Yet, since elementary school, she witnessed domestic violence toward her mother, and starting at the age of seven her stepfather often came to her room at night and sexually molested her. Over those years Alex also had to endure emotional abuse.

by Stephanie Koehler
-USA-

The vision of “Female Perspectives on Ending Sexual Violence” is to unite women from all over the world to document the pain they suffer as a result of sexual violence and the healing approach they have taken to grow from victim to survivor. Each installment will include photography of a female survivor and provide a platform to tell her story. Stephanie’s vision is to grow this project into an international sexual assault awareness campaign.

Brandi and I met at her home after several prior conversations about my project. She agreed to be the first participant in this series of photo-journalistic accounts.

by Stephanie Koehler
-USA-

How many rapes will it take to bring to our consciousness the devastating consequences inflicted on both rape survivors and society? How many more rapes do we need to hear about to make this plague our own personal problem? The 2009 National Crime Victimization Survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, reported approximately 79 percent of sexually assaulted women were attacked by a current or former husband, cohabitating partner, friend, or date. Strangers committed only 21 percent of the assaults counted in this survey.

According to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. The same is true for about three percent of American men. Approximately 15 percent of sexual assault and rape victims in the U.S. are under age 12. These horrifying numbers only reflect a fraction of factual rapes as most go unreported. And in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the vast numbers of women affected by sexual assault defies accurate reporting.