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Child sexual abuse affects at least 1 in 4 female-bodied and 1 in 6 male-bodied people. Yet due to social taboos, few survivors are able to share their stories publicly. Most never report their abuse to state authorities, and many never tell anyone.
Ping Chong & Co's "Undesirable Elements: Secret Survivors" uses theater, writing workshops, trainings and online media to encourage survivor healing and public awareness. The project features survivors telling their stories through dramatic narrative to: show that child sexual abuse is epidemic, represent the diverse ways it occurs, and discuss the reasons most survivors remain silent.
In this workshop, participants will view an excerpt of this work-in-progress. They will also complete writing exercises that were used in the script generating process, to understand how this work might be replicated in other cities. Finally, participants will discuss alternatives to state intervention in child sexual abuse cases, including viable models of community accountability, and learn how this theater production, with accompanying toolkits and workshops, can be used to engage communities in strategies to address child sexual abuse using a survivor-centered approach.
