On this platform, survivors anonymously share their stories of struggle, strength, and recovery, to foster a community of hope and work towards healing together.

Click 'Read the Resource' below to view the material. You will be taken to an external site that will open up in a new tab.

Our Wave: a place for survivors to anonymously share their stories.

These exercises have been created to help us through a number of different situations. Though initially they were created in line with our reproductive rights guide and for support through an abortion, they have been adapted to guide us through different situations and potentially provide some clarity or comfort. 

These exercises look at different ways to understand and identify how we feel, how we came to the decisions we have made, how we can start to rewrite negative messages we may be hearing about ourselves, and remind ourselves of our goodness and values. We hope these exercises are helpful. Take a break and come back when needed, and if  we are unsure or concerned, it may be helpful to contact a medical professional.

Exercises for wellbeing

If you are viewing this resource, you may be wondering what you should do. 

Don’t worry, you are in the right place.

 and will aim to provide you with the information you need free of bias. When we look for information on abortion and reproductive rights it can be too easy for us to find harmful, hurtful or misjudged information that doesn’t help us. 

This guide will assist us in knowing all of our options and give a realistic picture of abortion, understanding the process practically and emotionally, taking care of ourselves afterwards, speaking about our experience, if we would like to, and debunking common myths about abortion. This guide is for everyone who needs it, at whatever step they are at because Your Story Matters.

Disclaimer: This note is not intended and cannot be used as a legal guide.

 For local laws and regulations regarding abortion for your area, please refer to our directory in YSM as well as these useful resources from the 

It’s your choice: a judgement-free guide to abortion

Use these process maps to understand what will happen when reporting to the police, during the medical exam, and when pursuing legal justice. 

Process maps for legal justice

These checklists will help you navigate interactions with police and medical professionals. Each list contains procedures & services you're entitled to. Use these lists to see if due process was followed & see what stage you are at. 

For your privacy, these are not saved to your account.

Checklists to help navigate after assault

A timeline feature to support survivors through their self reporting journey.

Creating your own timeline for self reporting 

This article runs through rape culture and the effects it has on survivors coming forward.

We talk through the meaning of consent and agency, as well as the harmful victim-blaming narratives that rape culture helps create.

We discuss common myths about rape and debunk each of them to support you and help you understand that what happened to you was valid and real.

Rape culture and consent

This Guide is for people who have experienced domestic abuse, including economic abuse, and are in the UK on a spousal visa or another visa that says you have 'no recourse to public funds'.

Abused women with no recourse to public funds

Guide about your rights and how to navigate through asylum procedures with or without legal representation in the UK.

How to apply for asylum in the UK 

Guide for legal advice on how to build your own case without a lawyer.

Build your own case without a lawyer

Comic book that tells a story of courage, self-compassion and hope after sexual abuse.

The Courage to be Me

This guide summarises some of your rights and what you should expect from the criminal justice system as a survivor of sexual violence.

Survivors of sexual violence: your rights at a glance

Video with stories of women who didn't report sexual assault and their reasons.

Video

Women tell us why they didn’t report their sexual assault

In this Video, Kemi and Mojo are two women who want to take back control of their bodies through dance after their sexuality was stolen from them.

Taking back control after sexual abuse

In this Video, Sheeva Weil shares her story and her emotional journey of overcoming self-blame.

"I was raped and blamed myself. I'm not ashamed anymore"

In this Video, Daniela, an immigrant worker shares her survivor journey and how she started speaking up for other women (Spanish with English subtitles).

Video 

Survivor Story Series: Daniela

Podcast by Catriona Molton where she talks to fellow survivors of sexual assault and abuse about what happened to them and how they cope now.

Podcast Series

After: Surviving Sexual Assault

This Guide is for lesbian and bisexual women who have been affected by sexual violence, to help you find the support you need.

Click 'Read the resource' below to view the material. You will be taken to an external site that will open up in a new tab.

A guide for lesbian and bisexual women who have been affected by sexual violence 

Video about a personal account of overcoming self-blame.

"I blamed myself for being sexually assaulted"

Podcast about the most important things to focus on for survivors at the start of their journey of recovery.

Audio

Trauma is feeling unsafe

Podcast about the process of building skills for managing emotions.

Building Skills: Recovery after Trauma

A course about simple and practical steps to rebuild your confidence, empowering you to take over the reins of your life.

Regaining confidence after trauma

Video of personal accounts about how our sexual and date lives were changes after sexual assault. 

How sexual assault changes your dating and sex life

This is a guide crowdsourced by survivors, to identify manipulative situations and people, and how to deal with them.

Manipulation is abuse

This self-help Guide is for male survivors of rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse who want to understand and process their own personal reactions to their experience.

SARSAS self help guide for men & boys

Guide to identify causes of stress, and how to safeguard yourself against them, or future stress.

Coping with stress

Deciding to tell someone what happened after an assault is a deeply 

and one that we should take time to think about. Choosing if, how, and who we disclose an assault to, is 

. This note will lay out some of the factors to consider in helping us make this decision. 

Telling someone about what happened

Making the decision whether to report your assault or not is incredibly hard and may feel overwhelming. Whilst it may be the right action for some of us,

 justice and closure look different for different people

 depending on our location that we should be aware of. 

This note will provide more detail to help you make an informed decision.

Deciding to report or not

This article runs through things one may feel or go through after being sexually assaulted, mentally and physically. 

We have taken into account different scenarios and tried our best to put down some dos and don'ts in order to assist you through this process.

We believe every situation is salvageable, you are enough and you can feel better with the right steps and support.

Taking care of your body after assault

This Book is full of coping methods for you to try in times of need. The techniques in this book can be used as small, everyday steps to help you heal from the abuse you experienced.

My Little Book of Coping Methods

This Guide is for trans people who have been affected by sexual violence. The aim is to provide an overview of the basics and to help you find the support you need.

A guide for trans people who have been affected by sexual violence

This booklet is for survivors of sexual assault. It gives you information about the common psychological and emotional reactions to sexual assault. It may help you better to understand and process your own personal reactions to the experience. It is not intended as a replacement for human kindness, counselling or therapy.

A self-help guide for survivors of rape and sexual assault

The guide aims to help you understand what you’re going through, what helped others in your position and how to get out of feeling at your worst, but it isn't medical advice.

Getting Better and Moving On

Here you can find mental health services applicable to you.

Mental Health Services

This content refreshes our knowledge of our rights as survivors to justice, gives us an idea of what to expect from legal justice and helps us to consider what the right option is for us.

Women writing in diary

Accessing justice through the law

Sexual assault crosses cultures, classes and occurs all over the world. Reading the stories of others can help us understand that we are not alone and that our story matters.

Stories of survival and resilience

Resources to help heal the impact of trauma, understand how to rebuild our confidence, use different coping methods for when we’re feeling overwhelmed and begin to process.

Moving through trauma

Trauma can have an emotional and psychological impact. Understand the brain's reaction to trauma and how we can challenge and repair negative feelings and care for ourselves.

Emotional wellbeing

Understand how the body might respond to trauma, its impact on our intimate relationships and why (and how) to seek out medical care and how to rebuild trust in loving partnerships.

Emotional wellbeing

Trauma can have an emotional and psychological impact. Understand the brain's reaction to trauma and how we can challenge and repair negative feelings and care for ourselves.

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