1. Definition of sexual violence
   1. Sexual violence is an all-encompassing, nonlegal term that refers to crimes including sexual assault, rape, and sexual abuse. The legal definitions of these crimes vary from state to state. 
2. Increased risk for mental health challenges
   1. Survivors of sexual violence are at increased risk for mental health challenges, substance misuse, and suicide.
3. Support survivors through the narrative
   1. Storytelling can support the mental health of sexual violence survivors by avoiding narratives that blame or question victims, limiting scenes depicting sexual violence, and portraying people reporting violence and seeking help in effective, realistic ways.

This section was written in partnership with RAINN.

Storytelling Tips

Diversify Representation

• Focus on the survivor’s experience, not the perpetrator’s. The survivor’s perspective, pain, and healing should be at the forefront of the discussion.
• Remember that survivors can be any gender identity when addressing sexual violence crimes generally.

Show Conversations About Mental Health and Help-Seeking

• Show people speaking about being victims of sexual violence and receiving support from friends and family, law enforcement, and mental health professionals. Research shows that fear, embarrassment, and guilt prevent victims from speaking up, putting them at more risk for distress, substance misuse, and suicide. Even if the process of seeking institutional support, especially for communities of color, is sometimes complicated, storytelling can encourage viewers to get help. 

Spotlight Support from Friends and Family

• Show how the reaction of loved ones and communities can greatly affect the survivor’s healing process. When a survivor tells a loved one that they have been sexually assaulted, the loved one may feel a range of emotions. There is no “right” way to feel after receiving such difficult information; however, it’s important to listen and center the experiences and emotions of the survivor. Stories can model what a supportive reaction looks like, and it can also be powerful to show loved ones learning how to be an advocate through resources like RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline.

Depict Effective, Realistic Help-Seeking and Treatment

• Show that treatment is more than just reliving or recounting the trauma over and over again. Misconceptions about what will happen in therapy and how treatment works can prevent people from asking for help. 

• Show that healing is not linear and does not have a timeline. Healing is a process and does not look the same for any two survivors. There is no deadline by which someone should be “healed.” 
• Focus on solutions as well as the problem. While it can be important to show the severity and frequency of the problem, it is also critical to show treatment and prevention options in a way that lets survivors and their supporters feel hopeful. 

Represent the Complex Causes of Mental Health Challenges

• Don’t oversimplify the connection between sexual violence and suicide. Survivors of trauma who attempt suicide are often dealing with multiple challenges at once (preexisting mental health conditions, substance misuse, abusive relationships, financial problems). Storytelling can help illustrate how characters or cast members use their support network and treatment to tackle their challenges holistically. 

Move Past Stereotypes

• Move past stereotypes of perpetrators of sexual violence. Sexual violence is often perpetuated by individuals known to the victim, which can create complicated emotions, such as not wanting the perpetrator to get in trouble or being afraid of not being believed by family and friends. Stories that underscore this reality, and avoid the stereotype of perpetrators being creepy or unhinged strangers, can help victims feel seen and encourage bystanders to take supportive action. 
• Show bystanders taking action. Stories can help model the behaviors we want bystanders to take, like intervening, distracting, reporting, and supporting. 

• Do not perpetuate narratives that excuse sexual abuse by claiming the pertetrator was a victim of sexual abuse. Most people who are abused or have experienced sexual trauma will not go on to sexually victimize others. 
• Storytelling can demonstrate the balance of highlighting the role alcohol plays in sexual violence while avoiding any suggestion that drinking or being drunk is an excuse for perpetuating sexual violence or blaming victims for that violence.
• Ensure the storyline doesn’t blame the victim and underscores that sexual violence is about consent — not appearance, sobriety, or behavior. Storylines that highlight the unfair and harmful ways victims are blamed and silenced can help viewers speak up for themselves or their loved ones.
  

Avoid Sharing Potentially Harmful Details

• Avoid graphic portrayals of sexual violence or aggressive sex scenes that could (re)traumatize viewers. Some experts believe that watching this type of violence in entertainment might trigger or inform potential perpetrators. Below are additional considerations: 
  • If the act itself is being filmed, use camera angles that focus on the survivor’s face to help center their experience. 
  • Consider using fades to black, cuts, or lingering off-camera shots to convey the act without asking the audience to be voyeurs of the moment.
  • Shift focus from the act itself and to the survivor’s experience in the aftermath. 
• Provide resources. Support your audience with content warnings, end cards, social media posts, and even cast PSAs featuring resources like the National Sexual Assault Hotline.