Activist Soma Sara On Uplifting The Stories Of Survivors
SOMA SARA created Everyone’s Invited in 2020 as an online platform for people to anonymously share their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. Now, as the charity partners with Prima Facie – the award-winning play in which Jodie Comer plays a criminal defence barrister – the activist and founder writes an essay about the importance of raising up the voices of survivors. Trigger warning: sexual violence and rape
Everyone’s Invited began spontaneously, after many conversations with my friends about the misogyny, harassment and abuse we faced throughout our teenage years. It is a digital safe space for survivors – of all ages, backgrounds, races, identities and gender orientations – to share their experiences completely anonymously. Our efforts have unleashed a tidal wave of stories and started a national conversation about rape culture and sexual abuse in education and wider society.
“Sexual violence does not exist in a vacuum; it is made possible by a culture that trivializes abuse; a culture where teenage boys are allowed to harass their peers with impunity, and girls are shamed and blamed for their own assaults
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Back in June 2020, I shared some of my experiences on Instagram, and I was overwhelmed with messages from peers who reached out to disclose their own stories. It quickly became clear to me that these stories – these moments of dehumanization, the violence, institutional gaslighting and invalidation, the underlying shame and stigma – were universal. Sexual violence does not exist in a vacuum; it is made possible by a culture that trivializes abuse; a culture where teenage boys are allowed to harass their peers with impunity, and girls are shamed and blamed for their own assaults.
Adolescence is a rude awakening to womanhood, as young girls are often introduced to the fear and paranoia that can become an essential part of their existence. Beginning in our school uniforms, along the street, on public transport, experiences of harassment and abuse can culminate in a pervasive and powerful dehumanization throughout our most formative and vulnerable years.
Beyond our teenage years, rape culture continues to pervade our lives and silences those who speak out, while the protection of male promise, reputation and futures is prioritized. And at what cost? Psychiatrist, author and educator Bessel van der Kolk, in his seminal and ground-breaking book The Body Keeps the Score, wrote about “how overwhelming experiences affect our innermost sensations and our relationship to our physical reality – the core of who we are”. He asserted that “trauma is not just an event that took place some time in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain and body”. We have learnt from the testimonies and the survivors in our community that trauma experienced in adolescence is something that stays with you, impacting the trajectory of your adult life.
“By platforming the voices of survivors, we are flipping the script, uplifting the voices of those who have been silenced, who have never spoken openly about their stories, traumas and experiences
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This impact is heart-wrenchingly captured by Jodie Comer’s Olivier-winning performance in Suzie Miller’s award-winning play Prima Facie, which has just launched on Broadway following its West End debut. Watching this play for the first time was a visceral and mesmerizing experience; Comer is a formidable force on stage, her performance a masterclass in empathy-building and impact. The audience is thrust along, clinging to every moment of her deeply cathartic, hilarious and devastating journey. When it ended, I ran to a bathroom stall to catch my breath and sit in silence and stillness to soak it all in.
Prima Facie encapsulates the harrowing ordeal and plight of a victim in the aftermath of rape within a deeply broken criminal justice system. At its core, Everyone’s Invited is survivor-centered. By platforming the voices of survivors, we are flipping the script, uplifting the voices of those who have been silenced, who have never spoken openly about their stories, traumas and experiences. Prima Facie enacts this flipping of the script, exposing the impact of sexual violence on the victim’s life – and through the lens of the criminal justice system. It exposes the brutal reality of how justice for a survivor of rape is near-impossible in a patriarchal system where the odds are overwhelmingly skewed in favor of the accused. The reality presented in the play is reality: charges in the UK are at a record low: just 1 in 70 rape cases result in a charge or summons (Home Office, 2021).
During the West End run, producer James Bierman got in touch with Everyone’s Invited, saying his inbox was overflowing with testimonies; audience members needed a space to share their stories after watching the play. Through our shared missions, a partnership between Everyone’s Invited and Prima Facie was born. Speaking out, submitting a story to the platform, allows many survivors a sense of catharsis, community and solidarity. It gives them an opportunity to make sense of their experiences and process their trauma, becoming central to the healing journeys of many. Most importantly, though – much like how I felt after watching Prima Facie for the first time – the act of sharing your story gives you strength in the knowledge that you are not alone.
Prima Facie is on at the Golden Theatre, New York City, until June 18, 2023
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