Here’s What Every Sexually Active Survivor Deserves in Their Sex Life

(Content Warning: sexual assault)

“I deserve connection.”

It can be tough to feel safe having sex after surviving sexual assault. Experiencing sexual violence can make it difficult to remember that you deserve to have your needs, desires, and boundaries respected.

The participants in this video talk about things that every person deserves in their sex life. But when you realize they’re talking specifically about what they deserve as survivors, you’ll know just how powerful these statements are.

This video was produced by FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture. It includes a reminder that if you’re a sexually active adult, there’s a chance that you’ll have sex with a survivor.

Pass this video on to help give survivors everywhere a chance to have safe, consensual, and pleasurable sex lives – and add to the conversation with the hashtag #SurvivorsDeserve.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

To learn more about this topic, check out:

• A Reclamation of Our Personal Rights as Victims and Survivors of Sexual Violence
• 6 Things to Navigate While Coming Out to Yourself as a Survivor of Sexual Violence

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Hannah Brancato is an artist, educator and activist. Her work challenges viewers to think about the connections between personal experience and social injustices. She is Co-Founder and Co-Director of FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture. FORCE is a creative activist collaboration to upset the dominant culture of rape and promote a culture of consent. Prior to her work with FORCE, in 2008, Hannah Brancato established Advocate Through Art, an awareness campaign by domestic violence survivors in a Baltimore shelter. In 2010, she co-founded Mother Made, a women’s economic empowerment project. Her work has been covered by NPR, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, and Fast Company. Brancato tweets from @HannahBrancato.