About The Voices of Survivors Project:
“There is hope and that it is possible to see beauty even in the midst of the horrific things that have happened. If we can see beauty, then we can communicate beauty because pictures are a form of communication. Then if we communicate beauty, that creates hope and hope then gives us the ability to take another step into the future” (Grace). The Voices of Survivors Project is a platform for survivors of human s*x trafficking or other forms of violence to express their lived experiences as survivors through photography. The Voices of Survivors Project came from a dissertation study conducted to directly highlight the voices of survivors and their expressed experiences, especially after separation from the trafficker. Seven women participated in this Photovoice study, six providing eligible photos. They were instructed to take or gather as many pictures as they wanted over 30 days, with the only limitation of no identifying information, such as faces. The prompt given was to take pictures and share a caption that expresses their experiences as a survivor. The participants then participated in a focus group to together discuss the shared themes and messages of their pictures. Finally, they were asked how they wanted to share these photos with others. They collectively expressed they wanted a national and global reach to learn through their photo journey. Thus, the Voices of Survivors Project became a transportable exhibit, accompanying photo book, and social media, the fruit of their feedback and their willingness to share their experiences through these photographs. The exhibit contains the submitted photos of each participant,who also chose their identifying name or number displayed throughout the study. Please visit www.voicesofsurvivorsproject to order your copy of the book, find out more about the transportable exhibit, or to submit photos to our ongoing awareness mission to express the experiences of survivors.
