SECRET PAGE FOR SURVIVORS

1.3% of reported rapes end in a charge, according to the Home Office. So where do survivors of sexual assault turn to for their own personal healing journeys?

Please watch me (Emily, the director) tell you about the project 👇

About the project

Last year I (Emily) started the process of reporting my sexual assault to the police. For some reason, I started to document the intimate moments of that process when I was at home by filming it on my camera.

Over the several months of the police investigation that followed, I felt like I was back on the emotional roller coaster I’d been taken on when I was first raped. As the investigation went stale, I realised that I couldn’t let my emotions depend on its outcome or the way the police treated me. I could be cooperative while putting my own healing journey first.

This healing journey is one that every survivor goes through. It happens outside of courtrooms and police stations and it goes on in their own mind. This is what I want to try and express through this documentary film. To do that well, I want to understand other survivor’s perspectives. My experience only tells one side of a complex story.

What are the project goals?

To open a conversation and improve education around the aftermath (short and longterm) for survivors. To break down the taboos of talking about sexual violence.

What stage is the project at?

I am applying for project funding via film grants. I already have hours of footage from my own experience, but I eventually want to shoot more content to include the voices of other survivors. If you decide to reach out, that doesn’t mean you’re agreeing to be in the film. Right now I need to make the best fund application possible, and to do that I need to understand other survivors’ perspectives.

A teaser trailer of the project

This trailer doesn’t recount what happened to me, but it does include some emotionally intense moments that could be upsetting to watch.