Content warning: Sexual violence.
More than half of campus sexual assaults occur between the start of the fall semester and Thanksgiving break, in a period of time known as The Red Zone. Pittsburgh universities, like many across the country, report few cases of sexual and gender-based violence each year. Some annual counts even suggest that rape, stalking and domestic violence have not occurred at all. But these institutions — and most importantly, their students — know that violence is likely more pervasive than the numbers show.
PublicSource spent six months speaking with survivors, advocates, lawyers, police and university officials to investigate the prevalence of sexual violence on Pittsburgh college campuses and its effects.
PublicSource spent six months speaking with survivors, advocates, lawyers, police and university officials to investigate the prevalence of sexual violence on Pittsburgh college campuses and its effects.
The photos of the survivors and advocates who shared their experiences with the reporting team centered around the use of circular mirrors. For the photographer, a survivor herself, the tool allowed for an element to connect the participants to each other– to take the isolation of these acts and reflect forward into the larger community of people who are finding each other as they build healing around sexual and intimate partner violence. The mirrors also allowed for survivors to participate at the level of identification they were comfortable with.
As one advocate put it, “I like to say: It’s a community I love dearly, but it’s one that I’m never happy to see other people join.”
Go here to access The Red Zone series at PublicSource.org.
Go here to access The Red Zone series at PublicSource.org.
Elizabeth stands for a portrait and reflects the dorms where she says her assault occurred. Photographed on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
Elizabeth said something didn’t seem right about the drinks she was served on the night of her assault. Photographed on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
Melissa Ferraro, center, holds a mirror reflecting herself with her two children, Marco, left, 14, and Felicia, 17, as they stand for a portrait at home on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, in Jefferson Hills. Melissa says her experience with assault has truly informed how she raises her children, with attention to age-appropriate conversations about consent and bodily autonomy, to break generational chains of trauma. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
University of Pittsburgh student Eva Steele poses for a photo on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Oakland. Steele says one of the impacts of experiencing intimate partner violence has been forgetting blocks of time in her life. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
University of Pittsburgh student Eva Steele poses for a photo with a fellow Pitt student on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Oakland. Eva is connecting other survivors of intimate partner violence with opportunities to forge a path of support for others in the same position. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
University of Pittsburgh student Mia Larkin is reflected for a portrait on campus on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Oakland. Larkin spoke to the shame and guilt that causes survivors to question their experiences. “I’m like, ‘I am wrong. I’m in the wrong for this. This was my fault for letting him in,’” they said. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
Disha Aggarwal and her friends created a list of men to stay away from, which she said has mainly spread through word of mouth. Some of the women memorize the names, while others like Aggarwal keep the list on their phones. It’s one way that Aggarwal, a junior at Pitt, has sought to protect herself and her friends from sexual violence. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
