Sexual Violence Virtual Library

Dear Sister: Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence edited by Lisa Factora-Borchers

“Dear Sister shares the lessons, memories, and vision of over fifty artists, activists, mothers, writers, and students who share their stories of survival or what it means to be an advocate and ally to survivors. Written in an epistolary format, this multi-generational, multi-ethnic collection of letters and essays is a moving journey into the hearts and minds of the survivors of rape, incest, and other forms of sexual violence, written directly to and for other survivors.” 

Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller

Chanel Miller “was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford’s campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral–viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case…Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words…Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.” 

Whatever Gets You Through: Twelve Survivors on Life After Sexual Assault edited by Stacey May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee

“Through the voices of twelve diverse writers, Whatever Gets You Through offers a powerful look at the narrative of sexual assault not covered by the headlines—the weeks, months, and years of survival and adaptation that people live through in its aftermath.[…] With candor and insight, each writer shares their own unique account of enduring: the everyday emotional pain and trauma, but also the incredible resilience and strength that can emerge in the aftermath of sexual assault.” 

Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford

“Notes on a Silencing traces the author’s healing journey after a traumatizing sexual assault at the infamous St. Paul’s boarding school, describing how she helped police uncover proof of the school’s institutionalized mandate of silence.”

Written on the Body: Letters from Trans and Non-Binary Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence edited by Lexie Bean

“Written by and for trans and non-binary survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, Written on the Body offers support, guidance and hope for those who struggle to find safety at home, in the body, and other unwelcoming places.” 

Healing the Trauma of Abuse: A Women’s Workbook by Mary Ellen Copeland and Maxine Harris

“This workbook offers women who have suffered sexual, physical, or emotional abuse crucial skills for coping, self-understanding, and self-care. The book is designed to be worked through from beginning to end, with self-evaluation questionnaires, writing exercises, and a variety of activities and relaxation techniques throughout. Also included are questions to ask a doctor, a personal crisis plan, and a comprehensive list of resources.” 

Life After Trauma, Second Edition: A Workbook for Healing by Dena Rosenbloom, Mary Beth Williams, and Barbara E. Watkins

“This compassionate workbook has already helped tens of thousands of trauma survivors start rebuilding their lives. Full of practical strategies for coping and self-care, the book guides you toward reclaiming a solid sense of safety, self-worth, trust, and control, as well as the capacity to be close to others. The focus is on finding the way forward in your life today, no matter what has happened in the past.” 

Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook: Somatic Skills to Help You Feel Safe in Your Body, Create Boundaries, and Live with Resilience by Erika Shershun

“The scars of sexual trauma exist not only in the mind, but also in the body. Drawing on the powerful mind-body techniques of somatic therapy, therapist Erika Shershun gives readers who’ve experienced sexual trauma a step-by-step guide to overcoming shame and stigma in the mind, bringing a newly felt sense of safety, awareness, and life to the body.”

Writing Ourselves Whole: Using the Power of Your Own Creativity to Recover and Heal from Sexual Trauma by Jen Cross

“Writing Ourselves Whole is a collection of essays and creative writing encouragements for sexual trauma survivors who want to risk writing a different story. Each short chapter offers encouragement, experience, and exercises.” 

Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do About It by Kate Harding

“In Asking for It, Kate Harding combines in-depth research with a frank, no-holds-barred voice to make the case that twenty-first-century America supports rapists more effectively than it supports victims. From institutional failures in higher education to real-world examples of rape culture, Harding offers ideas and suggestions for how we, as a society, can take sexual violence much more seriously without compromising the rights of the accused.” 

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay

“Cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are “routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied” for speaking out. Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this provocative collection both reflects the world we live in and offers a call to arms insisting that “not that bad” must no longer be good enough.”

Intersections of Identity and Sexual Violence on Campus: Centering Minoritized Students’ Experiences edited by Jessica C. Harris and Chris Linder

“While sexual violence has been present and prevalent on campus for decades, the work of recent college student activists has made it an issue of major societal and institutional concern. This book makes an important contribution to and provides a foundation for better contextualizing and understanding sexual violence. Each chapter in this edited volume focuses on populations that are not often centered in the discourse of campus sexual violence and accounts for individuals’ intersecting identities and how they interlock with larger systems of domination.” 

Domestic Violence: Intersectionality and Culturally Competent Practice edited by Lettie L. Lockhart and Fran S. Danis

“In Domestic Violence: Intersectionality and Culturally Competent Practice, experts working with twelve unique groups of domestic abuse survivors provide the latest research on their populations and use a case study approach to demonstrate culturally sensitive intervention strategies. Chapters focus on African Americans, Native Americans, Latinas, Asian and Pacific Island communities, persons with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, women in later life, LGBT survivors, and military families. They address domestic violence in rural environments and among teens, as well as the role of religion in shaping attitudes and behavior. Featuring resources applicable to both practitioners and clients, Domestic Violence forms an effective tool for analysis and action.” 

No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder

“In No Visible Bruises, journalist Rachel Louise Snyder gives context for what we don’t know we’re seeing. She frames this urgent and immersive account of the scale of domestic violence in our country around key stories that explode the common myths―that if things were bad enough, victims would just leave; that a violent person cannot become nonviolent; that shelter is an adequate response; and most insidiously that violence inside the home is a private matter, sealed from the public sphere and disconnected from other forms of violence. Through the stories of victims, perpetrators, law enforcement, and reform movements from across the country, Snyder explores the real roots of private violence, its far-reaching consequences for society, and what it will take to truly address it.” 

Journeys: Resilience and Growth for Survivors of Intimate Partner Abuse by Susan L. Miller

“Journeys focuses on the desperately understudied topic of the resiliency of long-term (over 5 years) survivors of intimate partner violence and abuse. Drawing on participant observation research and interviews with women years after the end of their abusive relationships, author Susan L. Miller shares these women’s trials and tribulations, and expounds on the factors that facilitated these women’s success in gaining inner strength and personal transformation. Written for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in criminal justice, sociology, and social services, Journeys shares stories that hope to inspire other victims and survivors while illuminating the different paths to resiliency and growth.”

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD

“In The Body Keeps the Score, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.” 

The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice by Staci K. Haines

“Just as health practitioners need to consider the societal factors underlying trauma, so too must activists understand the physical and mental impacts of trauma on their own lives and the lives of the communities with whom they organize.” The Politics of Trauma “invites readers to look beyond individual experiences of body and mind to examine the social, political, and economic roots of trauma–including racism, environmental degradation, sexism, and poverty. Haines helps readers identify, understand, and address these sources of trauma to help us bridge individual healing with social transformation.” 

The Little Book of Trauma Healing: When Violence Strikes and Community Security Is Threatened by Carolyn Yoder

“How do we address trauma, interrupt cycles of violence, and build resilience in a turbulent world of endless wars, nationalism, othering, climate crisis, racism, pandemics, and terrorism? This fully updated edition offers a practical framework, processes, and useful insights. This Little Book provides a justice-and-conflict-informed community approach to addressing trauma in nonviolent, neurobiologically sound ways that interrupt cycles of violence and meet basic human needs for justice and security.”

Motivational Interviewing in Health Care : Helping Patients Change Behavior by Stephen Rollnick, William R. Miller, and Christopher C. Butler

“Motivational Interviewing in Health Care shows how to use MI techniques to transform conversations about change. Even the briefest clinical interaction can serve to build trust, clarify patients’ goals as well as reasons for ambivalence, and guide them to take positive steps”

Trauma Treatment Toolbox: 165 Brain-Changing Tips, Tools & Handouts to Move Therapy Forward by Jennifer Sweeton, PsyD

“Trauma Treatment Toolbox teaches clinicians how to take that brain- based approach to trauma therapy, showing how to effectively heal clients’ brain with straightforward, easy-to-implement treatment techniques. Each tool includes a short list of post trauma symptoms, relevant research, application, and clinician tips on how to complete the exercise.” 

Social Work And Restorative Justice: Skills For Dialogue, Peacemaking, And Reconciliation edited by Elizabeth Beck, Nancy P. Kropf, and Pamela Blume Leonard

“This book examines the ways that these two disciplines intersect. Each chapter engages readers in an in-depth exploration of the history and contemporary realities of both disciplines, presenting vivid case studies in practice areas such as school settings, communities, domestic violence, homicide, prisons, child welfare, and gerontology. . In a holistic and critical exploration of how these fields can work together more effectively, the book’s authors also importantly highlight tensions between their values, skills, and interventions, such as the risks and benefits of employing restorative justice techniques in a prison setting.”

Sexual Violence and Restorative Justice by Marie Keenan and Estelle Zinsstag

“This book examines the degree to which restorative justice can contribute to a more enhanced justice response than that currently offered by criminal legal approaches alone, to victims, offenders, and their communities in cases of sexual crime. Concerned by the high attrition rates for sexual crime and the secondary victimization reported in victim accounts, annual reports from court and prosecutor services, and the empirical literature, the book analyses the extent to which restorative justice can address the justice gap that exists in current justice provision.” 

Restorative Responses to Sexual Violence: Legal, Social and Therapeutic Dimensions edited by Estelle Zinsstag and Marie Keenan

“The theory and practice of restorative justice is rapidly developing and offers some well-argued new avenues for dealings with crime in general. It has the potential to be extended to cases of sexual violence and a number of small scale programmes are already underway across the world. Restorative Responses to Sexual Violence examines this innovative justice paradigm in more depth in the particular context of sexual trauma and violence in order to establish the empirical realities of restorative justice approaches in cases of sexual violence, and considers how such approaches could be developed adequately in the future. This book is divided into two parts, each representing a key area of research and practice: theoretical and conceptual frameworks, and justice and therapeutic perspectives.”

Sexual Offending and Restoration by Mark Yantzi

“Mark Yantzi provides the perspectives of victims and offenders. By facilitating their interaction, he points to new ways to provide hope to those who have been abused, to the abusers, and to their families. Yantzi’s unique method and approach are illustrated through many case examples and candid dialogue. Readers can hear the authentic voice of those most affected by sexual abuse and share in the process toward healing and growth.”

The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Sexual Abuse : Hope Through Trauma by Judah Oudshoorn, Michelle Jackett, and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz

“Restorative justice is gaining acceptance for addressing harm and crime. Interventions have been developed for a wide range of wrongdoing. This book considers the use of restorative justice in response to sexual abuse. Rather than a blueprint or detailing a specific set of programs, it is more about mapping possibilities. It allows people to carefully consider its use in responding to violent crimes such as sexual abuse.”

The Little Book of Victim Offender Conferencing : Bringing Victims and Offenders Together in Dialogue by Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz

“Victim offender dialogues have been developed as a way to hold offenders accountable to the person they have harmed and to give victims a voice about how to put things right. It is a way of acknowledging the importance of the relationship, of the connection which crime creates. Granted, the relationship is a negative one, but there is a relationship. Amstutz has been a practitioner and a teacher in the field for more than 20 years.”