voice for survivors

 In 10 days we collected all the money needed to publish a book.
Thanks!

*****************

Two years ago I wrote a book. Partly on my own, partly with other women. It's a book about important issue, the issue which personally matters to me and to co-writers, the book described by the readers as encouraging, emancipating and empowering.

It's book abut rape. Below I attach a fragment of the Introduction, which explains the perspective I employed in writing it.

I want this book to be published. I believe it's necessary – for breaking down the taboo of silence on sexual violence, for introducing the voices of survivors into public discourse, for the women who have decided to speak through this book and for the women, who have already red it.

A publishing House Książka i Prasa wants to publish the book. It's an independent, social publishing house – which means it doesn't have money. We didn't manage to get any grant, and that's why I'm writing to You. To publish this book we need 7000zł, which is 1700€. If 100 people contribute with 18€, the book will be published.

Thanks and see You at meet the author sessions ;)

Zofia

*******How much do we already have?

 EVERYTHING!
1700euro in 10 days. Many thanks.

 we've got 7000PLN (1700euro)
from 58 people
thanks!


******* Introduction

When I told my relatives that I was raped, one person told me „better don’t tell too many people, cause you might regret it later on”. Although it was meant as a sign of care, it caused my resistance from the start. Later someone else described my need to talk as „perverse”.

The topic of rape is full of paradoxes. It's a very commonplace act, but it's thought of as marginal. It is said, that as long as women stay home, they are safe, while, according to statistics, the majority of perpetrators are the relatives. The survivors experience shocking threat, which often changes their identity totally, but they hear that it's not a big deal, that they should just forget. It's the perpetrator, who does harm, but it's the victim, who is stigmatized, who feels the pain during the trial. The list of these paradoxes/injustices goes on and on.

Another paradox is the fact, that while the survivors get reminded about their experience all the time by the sexist culture, they are not allowed to speak about it – because it's too 'private', because it's not fun, because of shame, which they are taught to feel. And this taboo of rape, this „don't tell anyone what you experienced”, was exactly what caused me to write. This book exists to break off the victims’ silence.

In the book, I describe the situation of women, who have experienced rape and decided to testify to the police. My aim is to shed light onto the contact with the police looks like and to discuss a wider socio-cultural context of it. The chapters which present the contact with and the reactions of the police, were co-written together with the experts on the subject matter – the women, who have had such experiences themselves.

In this book I was using a feminist methodology. According to it's motto – ‘by women, on women, for women’ – our book is a political project. It is an act of introducing survivors’ voices into the public discourse.

And a word about perversion – latin perversio means „to divert, to turn in a wrong way”. If what is currently the norm are the stereotypes that inflict a ban on speaking - then yes, I want to turn this situation around. Long life perversion!