Healing is not linear: Using photography to describe the day‐to‐day healing journeys of undergraduate women survivors of sexual violence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the day‐to‐day healing processes of women who experienced undergraduate sexual violence. We engaged 19 women in a photo‐elicitation experience with follow‐up individual interviews to identify themes of both healing and darker moments in survivors' everyday lives. Healing was found to function on a continuum influenced by darker moments (i.e., moments that elicited fear, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, anger, and worthlessness) and healing moments (i.e., rebuilding moments of self‐care, self‐love, connection, hope, peace, and freedom). Responses to darker moments included feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and intentional vulnerability. Healing moments were influenced by self‐reflection, authentic interactions, and resource utilization. The photographs taken in this study shed light on the impact of sexual violence in women's daily lives long after these traumatic and unjust experiences. This knowledge can be used to foster a sense of universality in survivors who are currently struggling and growing after their experiences as well as give service providers greater insight into what survivors' day‐to‐day needs may be.

Catching sight of well-being despite a stress-related disorder

“…This is similar to previous findings in studies with participants with cancer where they had enjoyed taking photographs and the majority had also found talking with the researcher as helpful [38]. Comparable findings can also be found in a study in which female survivors of sexual violence described the method as being promotive in itself [27].…”

“…This entailed the participants reflecting on what contributes to their well-being, which could be something different to that described in the general advice, such as sleep hygiene and physical activity, which they had previously received within primary health care. The new insights that the participants described as having gained from the photographs concur with the participants' descriptions of using the photographs as memories and reminders in previous research [27].…”

“…Images can provide a different type of information than that found in verbal communication alone and can thus increase the possibilities for empirical research. Visual research methodologies are considered useful in occupational therapy [25] and suitable for exploring and understanding complex phenomena in everyday life [26,27], such as wellbeing. Photography based on what the photographer him/herself perceives as containing meaning in everyday life [24,28,29], has also been considered to be well aligned with the basic assumptions of client-centred occupational therapy [30] as the individual is active with taking pictures of his/her own preferences.…”

Girls’ Perspectives on Gendered Violence in Rural Sweden: Photovoice as a Method for Increased Knowledge and Social Change

“…It is nonetheless likely that some girls had experiences of more severe violence, and all girls were reminded of the possibility to visit the school nurse, the school social counselor or the youth health center in the municipality if they found the topic stressful. It is also possible that girls who had own experience of gendered violence could have been empowered during the process as photo elicitation and the discussion of violence in general could have enabled the girls to feel less ashamed and look at the problem in a new way, as shown by Sinko et al (2020).…”

Typology of Interpersonal Violence Model With Applications in Emergency Nursing: Forensics and Interpersonal Violence Special Issue

“…47 Examples of novel innovations to prevent injury and support recovery include a middle school, gender-based, violence prevention program 48 delivered by a sport coach and the creative use of photo diaries to understand victim experiences, assess for ongoing violence, and support the healing of victims. 49 Emergency nurses are in a key position not only to screen for the existence of intimate partner violence but also to further assess and intervene to prevent intimate partner femicide using tools such as Danger Assessment (www. dangerassessment.org).…”