Speak Out Against Sexual Assault

We've been reading and talking about our book Speak for the past week or so. We're getting more and more into the book and are starting to see the effects of the rape on Melinda's relationships with her friends, family, teachers, and herself. She has been hurting herself and is even dressing differently.

As we think about the impact of sexual assault on this one girl, it's interesting to bring the ideas presented in this book back to our lives. How do we feel when we are forced to be silent? How do we feel when we force ourselves to remain silent?

We talked about these feelings and created a bit of an artistic representation of us being silenced. (This project was optional in that you did not have to use tape if you did not want to. There were some non-tape options available if this made you feel uncomfortable.) Here is what some of you created:

To me, the entire collection of photos from this activity is nothing short of powerful. And disturbing. Great work, all!