Breaking the silence around child sexual abuse

Image © Our Wave Inc

People who have experienced sexual abuse on both sides of the Atlantic are finding ways to start conversations about the issue to get the support they need to heal.

Based in the UK, Sophia Luu found it difficult to find any information on the subject. “Everything on the topic felt scary or completely inaccessible, or doom and gloom,” she says. A survivor of child sexual abuse herself, Sophia knew that she needed to try something new. She founded a not-for-profit organisation called Secrets Worth Sharing, to help provide resources that were more accessible and relevant. “Survivors were looking for a space where they could laugh and smile and just breathe,” she says.

Today, Secrets Worth Sharing posts podcasts and holds in-person events in the UK, with a focus on keeping the tone of the subject matter both positive and uplifting. Sophia frames all her conversations around child sexual abuse through a methodology she created called “serious joy”. While the topic of child sexual abuse is a serious one, for those who have experienced it, finding community brings joy.

Sophia wants to help remove the burden of healing from survivors, and equip people close to them to help. That is why many of Secrets Worth Sharing’s educational materials are aimed at survivors’ support systems: their families, friends, romantic partners, and professionals.

To make conversations about child sexual abuse approachable, Secrets Worth Sharing uses a variety of creative mediums, including art and media. “Art, design, and popular culture are really powerful tools – they take a really intimidating topic and create an opportunity to empathise, learn, and reflect from a safe distance,” says Sarah. “That then filters into people’s own relationships and experiences.”

Sophia also invites guests, ranging from experts in various fields to individuals with lived experience, to discuss different aspects of childhood sexual violence via podcast. “For many people, sitting down and watching a video about childhood sexual abuse is going to be a bit overwhelming,” says Sophia, “but having something they can listen to when they’re in the car or doing something else opens up a world of possibilities.”

On the other side of the Atlantic, a North Carolina-based organisation called Our Wave also wants to break the silence about child sexual abuse. Kyle Linton co-founded Our Wave after realising that people in his life who had experienced sexual violence weren’t getting the support they needed. He wanted to create a safe and accessible place to start conversations about their experiences.

Our Wave allows survivors to anonymously submit their stories, ask questions, and access resources on its website. It then provides additional resources such as helplines, or connects survivors to support organisations in their region. Our Wave has received over 1,500 story submissions and referred more than 26,000 survivors to additional resources. “A lot of folks suffer in silence and feel incredibly alone. Giving survivors a space where they can disclose allows them to acknowledge what they’ve experienced and move forward,” says Kyle.

More than 600 questions have been answered by experts and published to allow anyone who needs support to view the answers. By leaving messages of encouragement on the stories that are submitted, survivors are also able to build community.

While most stories are submitted as text, survivors are also able to share their stories using art. Survivors can submit paintings, pictures, poems, or other forms of art that represent their experiences. Our Wave also helps create interactive digital art exhibitions about healing, and works with artists to create videos about survivor’s stories. “We want to help folks find healing in all kinds of different mediums,” says Kyle. “We want survivors to feel like they’re rebuilding their trust and relationships, and that their trauma isn’t all consuming.”

Our Wave is now developing a platform that provides individualised healing plans that enable group engagement and tracking of survivors’ progress to inform how best to support them. Our Wave will use AI to help analyse online communities, answer questions, categorise content, and conduct research that informs how survivors are supported. Our Wave partners with other organisations and researchers to ensure AI and digital tools are safe, effective, and centred on survivors’ needs. “We’re using cutting-edge technologies that meet survivors where they are, and also evaluate how these tools can truly improve the healing process,” says Kyle.

Oak Foundation supports Secrets Worth Sharing and Our Wave through the Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme, which works towards a world where all children can thrive. Supporting survivors is a key part of our programme strategy, which can be found here.