Sexual Assault Survivors Magazine
Donation protected
According to the NYC Mayor’s Management Report, New York City has seen a five-year upward trend in forcible rape, with a total of 1,547 rapes reported to the NYPD in 2015 alone. To combat this violence, we are creating a publication entitled Survivors: a magazine that uses fashion and photography to empower victims of sexual assault and spread awareness of sexual violence.
This past summer 2016, team member Maria Polzin, interned at the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The Alliance was founded by a coalition of NYC Rape Crisis Programs as a leadership organization to address gaps in services and prevention on the city, state, and federal level. Through this community engagement, Maria came to confront her own experience of having been sexually assaulted. She is a survivor, and she is not alone. The community she found engenders empowerment by providing resources and relationships that can help an individual grow; art, too, engenders empowerment by providing agency over one’s identity and self-representation. With healthy collaboration, engaging photoshoots, and a final publication, this project is intended to give survivors a platform to reclaim their identity through self-representation and be part of a community through the process of creation.
The first step uses highly-trained intervention coordinators at the Alliance to reach out to survivors over the age of 18 in the NYC area regarding their interest in participating in the publication. Once participants are identified, the creative team (photographer, makeup artist, stylist, and director) will work openly with the survivor to create a look that makes them feel confident and in control. Do they want to show a lot of skin or no skin? Makeup or no make up? Do they want to do the photoshoot at a place of personal significance? Or hold a picture of themselves at the age they were assaulted? Depending on the individual, the photos may have everything to do with sexual assault, or nothing at all, for each individual is so much more than the violences that stay with them.
Selecting several photos from each photoshoot, we will curate a (approx.) 64-page magazine consisting of the survivors’ images, personal stories, and data that creatively informs readers of the rising problem of sexual assault. The final product will be a special edition in the already popular magazine 2 Bros New York (2BNY). 2BNY is known for its high-quality, fashion-forward magazine highlighting independent youth work. To top it off, 2BNY will give all proceeds from the edition back to the Alliance to continue helping other victims. Survivors will be released in April–––Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Meet the team:
Maria Polzin (director) is an NYU Gallatin student studying human rights. She loves spoken-word poetry, playing soccer, and biking in the city.
Emily Gordin (photographer) is an NYU Gallatin student studying ethics of media representation. She loves fashion photography, minimalism, and avocados.
Hannah Woldetsadik (creative consultant) is an NYU CAS student studying linguistic anthropology. She is a makeup artist, quad-lingual to be, and lover of hummus.
Alston Watson (co-owner of 2BNY) is an NYU Steinhardt student practicing studio art. He loves rap music and Raf Simons.
Josie Torielli is the manager of Intervention and Best Care at The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault.
Bryan Aston is the intervention coordinator at the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault.
Above all, we are a team of passionate students and community advocates who have had enough of crimes perpetrated against the most sacred things a human being has: their body and mind. We wish to create a meaningful experience for the participants and viewers by working with and showcasing the amazing individuals who continue to heal from violence our culture has allowed to persist. We are saying enough of this violence, and you can too.
Publishing is an expensive endeavour, and we need your help. Right now, we can only afford to publish around 100 magazines, but we are confident this will be a magazine that thousands will want to read and devour. The magazines will be sold at (est.) $20 per copy and all funding will go back to The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The only people who do not have to pay are the participating survivors for their brave work. Your funding will also contribute to costs of production–––such as studio rental space for the photoshoots, clothing, and props to allow the survivors to express themselves to the fullest. We cannot express how grateful we and the survivors are for your contributions to help spread our publication and make real change.
If you or anyone you know is a survivor and would like to be a part of this publication, please reach out to us at [email redacted]
This past summer 2016, team member Maria Polzin, interned at the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The Alliance was founded by a coalition of NYC Rape Crisis Programs as a leadership organization to address gaps in services and prevention on the city, state, and federal level. Through this community engagement, Maria came to confront her own experience of having been sexually assaulted. She is a survivor, and she is not alone. The community she found engenders empowerment by providing resources and relationships that can help an individual grow; art, too, engenders empowerment by providing agency over one’s identity and self-representation. With healthy collaboration, engaging photoshoots, and a final publication, this project is intended to give survivors a platform to reclaim their identity through self-representation and be part of a community through the process of creation.
The first step uses highly-trained intervention coordinators at the Alliance to reach out to survivors over the age of 18 in the NYC area regarding their interest in participating in the publication. Once participants are identified, the creative team (photographer, makeup artist, stylist, and director) will work openly with the survivor to create a look that makes them feel confident and in control. Do they want to show a lot of skin or no skin? Makeup or no make up? Do they want to do the photoshoot at a place of personal significance? Or hold a picture of themselves at the age they were assaulted? Depending on the individual, the photos may have everything to do with sexual assault, or nothing at all, for each individual is so much more than the violences that stay with them.
Selecting several photos from each photoshoot, we will curate a (approx.) 64-page magazine consisting of the survivors’ images, personal stories, and data that creatively informs readers of the rising problem of sexual assault. The final product will be a special edition in the already popular magazine 2 Bros New York (2BNY). 2BNY is known for its high-quality, fashion-forward magazine highlighting independent youth work. To top it off, 2BNY will give all proceeds from the edition back to the Alliance to continue helping other victims. Survivors will be released in April–––Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Meet the team:
Maria Polzin (director) is an NYU Gallatin student studying human rights. She loves spoken-word poetry, playing soccer, and biking in the city.
Emily Gordin (photographer) is an NYU Gallatin student studying ethics of media representation. She loves fashion photography, minimalism, and avocados.
Hannah Woldetsadik (creative consultant) is an NYU CAS student studying linguistic anthropology. She is a makeup artist, quad-lingual to be, and lover of hummus.
Alston Watson (co-owner of 2BNY) is an NYU Steinhardt student practicing studio art. He loves rap music and Raf Simons.
Josie Torielli is the manager of Intervention and Best Care at The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault.
Bryan Aston is the intervention coordinator at the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault.
Above all, we are a team of passionate students and community advocates who have had enough of crimes perpetrated against the most sacred things a human being has: their body and mind. We wish to create a meaningful experience for the participants and viewers by working with and showcasing the amazing individuals who continue to heal from violence our culture has allowed to persist. We are saying enough of this violence, and you can too.
Publishing is an expensive endeavour, and we need your help. Right now, we can only afford to publish around 100 magazines, but we are confident this will be a magazine that thousands will want to read and devour. The magazines will be sold at (est.) $20 per copy and all funding will go back to The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The only people who do not have to pay are the participating survivors for their brave work. Your funding will also contribute to costs of production–––such as studio rental space for the photoshoots, clothing, and props to allow the survivors to express themselves to the fullest. We cannot express how grateful we and the survivors are for your contributions to help spread our publication and make real change.
If you or anyone you know is a survivor and would like to be a part of this publication, please reach out to us at [email redacted]
Organizer and beneficiary
Emily Gordin
Organizer
New York, NY
Maria Polzin
Beneficiary
