Comics Stories about Sexual Assault
Do you have mixed feelings about the #metoo hashtag? Feeling flooded? Yah, me too. "I'm Tired of Performing Trauma" on The Nib includes five stories responding to #metoo, truly the most thoughtful commentary I've read in the past year. This one by Shing Yin Kohr is stunning.
In "Trigger Warning: Breakfast" on The Nib, an anonymous artists tells the story of her assault and the steps she took to convince herself that it hadn't happened. A tough exterior can go a long way, but for this "bad victim," it took years to acknowledge her experience.
We can thank Candace Jackson, the top civil rights official at the Department of Education, for illuminating us about the true nature of sexual assault on college campuses. “Rather, the accusations — 90 percent of them — fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’ ‘we broke up, and six months later I found myself under... Continue Reading →
In her new book Not My Shame, T.O. Walker tells a story that I can really relate to. Published in the U.K. in 2017 by Singing Dragon, Not My Shame is a graphic memoir about assault, hard-earned survival, and the redemption of human connection. The non-linear narrative reflects the experiences of an assault survivor... Continue Reading →
The assignment: Design a project that address issues surrounding sexual assault. The designers: Students Jane Kim, Shayna Lauer, and Helén Marton The course: Design for Public Awareness, Professor Jan Hadlaw in her course at York University, Toronto Another comic from the course that I'd like to see is “The Monsters I See,” a 16-page graphic novella by Esther... Continue Reading →
Political cartoonist Barry Deutsch strikes again with this comic inspired by a story about the "rape tax" by Amanda Taub at Vox. Do concerns for personal safety impact decisions that women make about professional collaborations? Taub says yes, and the implications of those decisions are ultimately limiting to women's careers.
In Monster, Artist Kiko Galpin tells a very personal story about life after sexual assault. Earlier this month, Kiko answered some questions from Grab Back Comics about the process of making this comic and publishing it in Room Magazine. Kiko says, "I wanted to convey the idea that this fear and discomfort doesn’t go away after the... Continue Reading →
How to be a Perfect Rape Victim. The emotionally honest geniuses at Robot Hugs made a devastating comic about how frustrating and demoralizing it is to report a sexual assault. The heartbreaking message: If you don't respond to your rape in the right way, you're just not credible. RobotHugs writes: "When I do comics for other... Continue Reading →
Una's book Becoming Unbecoming is a graphically beautiful story of a girl growing up in a community haunted by a serial rapist and murderer. When town authorities and the media place the burden of personal safety on women and girls, Una gets a clear message that her own experience with sexual violence is entirely her fault. J.... Continue Reading →
From The Legal Assistance Centre in Namibia comes a series of comics that instruct readers on how to identify, report, and respond to cases of abuse and sexual assault. These are fascinating reads -- the goal of each comic is to assist the victim of a crime, whether it is a suspected assailant who has been... Continue Reading →
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