Childhood sexual abuse is all around us, but most coverage of the issue looks past the fact that the majority of survivors don’t tell. One out of every ten people in the US will become a survivor of sexual violence before they reach eighteen. But just 10% of those survivors – one in sixty – ever disclose to parents or the criminal justice system.
As a result, the headlines about politician Dennis Hastert and retired football coach Jerry Sandusky, and even powerful movies like Spotlight, miss the most prevalent story in childhood sexual abuse: The survivors’ long, agonizing and mostly silent struggles to go public, and how that often leaves abusers unchecked.
Silent Evidence breaks through that barrier with a story focused on the ramifications of sexual violence, as they are lived by one woman and the people closest to her, over the course of a 28-year journey to go public.
Silent Evidence is on a quest to understand the silence surrounding child sexual abuse.
What’s at risk in speaking out? What’s at risk in staying silent?
According to the Center for Disease Control, “sexual violence against children erodes the strong foundation that children require for leading healthy and productive lives” and survivors face “a broad range of mental and physical health problems, ranging from depression and unwanted pregnancy to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and sexually transmitted diseases.”
How do we break that silence?
Silent Evidence attempts a more holistic approach to that question. It’s not as simple as saying, ‘this shouldn’t happen.’ It’s not just the fault of perpetrator. There’s a role for the survivor, the adults in the survivor’s life, the media, and the public institutions she moves through. Intimate audio recordings of the process bring the listener inside the story and drive the discussion.
Subscribe to The Heart podcast to hear the first four episodes. Then follow the story to Reveal for the final episode.
Thank You
Silent Evidence is supported in part by a grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation - Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.
Kate Ryan, Sam Malone, Yeshe Parks, Bill Watson, Rebekah Miel, nuri nusrat, Sharon Mashihi, Alana Rose, Beth Russet, Mitra Kaboli, Emily Posner, David Deal, Jones Franzel, Leah Stern, Martyna Starosta, Ashley Cortez, Laura Hadden, Shannon Nacey, Sabra Jafarzadeh, Matt Raibert, Ida Benedetto, lolo haha, Pejk Malinovski, RJ Maccani, sujatha baliga, Karol Ilagan, Iva Radivojevic, Jonny Farrow, Marty Lucas, Henry Harris, Rachel Stevens, Ross Petchesky, Kelly Spivey, Christian Pardo Herrera, Swoon, Alex Mallis, Harriett, Murray, Nancy Woodhull.
