One survivor's name shines through the darkness in her remarkable resilience journey—Courageous Fire. After enduring years of emotional, financial, spiritual, sexual abuse, and manipulation, Courageous was determined to shield her daughters from their abuser, her then-husband. Courageous spent 13 years thinking, “Maybe I’m crazy, maybe we keep misunderstanding each other, or maybe we are right at the brink of a breakthrough.” But as time went on, she said, “My kids and I were determined to keep making space to be with each other even though he tried to put so much conflict between us.”

Stevie Croisant is a writer, leader, proud dog-mom, and survivor of an abusive relationship. She lived through two years of intimate partner violence, also referred to as domestic violence, before being able to leave the relationship with the help of friends and family. “Even though I knew deep down that I should leave, anyone who told me that too directly would become the enemy."

Ethan Levine was sexually assaulted in high school by a friend of someone he was casually dating. “In the immediate aftermath of the first assault, my focus was on whether it was real and whether I was right about what had happened. I got hung up on the fact that what happened to me didn’t fit the definition of rape I had grown up hearing.”

Brad Simpson was groomed and sexually abused by a private sports trainer from age nine to his mid-teens. He didn’t tell anyone about the abuse for the next 35 years. “It was scary; I was afraid of judgement most of all. I had feelings of guilt, and I struggled with self esteem and trying to hide my story.”

Eileen was sexually and emotionally abused by her father starting at age two and sexually abused by her uncle starting at age four. “There was always that darkness inside me, but I didn’t know the root cause for all of it. The floodgates of my memory opened. I spent most of my 20s in a lot of pain and trying to find my way out.”

3% of American men have experienced an attempted or completed rape. A survivor speaks out: “I want young Black men to know that they are not alone.”

Lea Grover was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance at a party when she was fourteen-years-old. “I was alone. I was fourteen. I didn't have a way home. I didn't know the language to use for what happened to me."

Sharon Billings was sexually assaulted and abused by her husband over the course of four years. It started with controlling behavior and emotional abuse and escalated to become increasingly violent. “The biggest thing for me was when I got to the point where I could let go of responsibility for my husband’s actions. I held myself accountable for a long time.”

For two years, Scott Weaver was sexually abused by his mother's boyfriend. “I wanted to tell someone, but I was afraid of not being believed. He threatened me.”

Isabella was a freshman in high school when she began dating a girl who controlled and sexually abused her. Now a senior in college, Isabella speaks out about what happened to her and wants others to understand queer sexual violence.