CREDIT: EDGE IMAGING
Charlotte Prince started the campaign Arrows of Bravery to help people to see themselves as survivors, not victims, and provide them the resource to know they are not alone and that things will get better.

“I think this was the moment I realized I wasn’t ruined, that even though he ruined my innocence as a child I would make it and I would be okay,” wrote one of the inspirational posts on Arrows of Bravery.

Arrows of Bravery is a photo campaign started by Charlotte Prince, a second year Fanshawe student in the Development Services Worker (DSW) program. It is a campaign where survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence or childhood abuse can post photographs of how their assault does not define them, how far they have come since the incident and how things can and will get better.

“I was inspired to do this because there are a lot of projects out there that focus on the incident or incidents themselves and kind of talking about it and dealing with it, but I wanted something that focused on moving passed it, what happens after, [that focuses on] where we go from here,” Prince said.

Essentially, it is a project where people can send in photos of either themselves or photos of an object that shows their happiness, confidence, or their courage rather than focusing on the incident; pictures that show the person as a survivor rather than a victim.

Prince started the campaign a month and a half ago on Tumblr after she herself was dealing with sexual assaults both directly and indirectly.

“I was kind of just looking online to find support and awareness campaigns because there are a lot out there, but everything I found kind of showed things in a negative view and it didn’t sit well with me,” Prince said.

So Prince decided to do something about it.

“I just thought we need something where people can come who are struggling or who still feel like a victim and we need to get them to a place where they feel like a survivor, so I just one night started the Tumblr blog.”

To start out, she sent messages to other rape culture, sexual assault and domestic violence support blogs and received feedback instantly, and then the submissions began flowing in.

“A lot of the submissions I receive I have no idea who they are, they just send me [their stories] from their blogs.”

And according to Fanshawe College’s sexual violence prevention advisor Leah Marshall, this sort of outlet is a great way for survivors of sexual assaults to support each other.

“We need to see that these are individuals that have experienced this and these are ways to build each other up and support each other and really fight back against the stigmatization in society surrounding sexual violence.”

Marshall sees Prince’s campaign as evidence that the discourse surrounding sexual violence and harassment on campus is starting to have a ripple effect.

“I think anytime a student takes a social issue, such as sexual violence and harassment, and takes it in a creative way and makes the conversation kind of come to the forefront of everything else that is going on…I think it is a way to gain more attention to an issue that is so important.”

Prince’s views of her campaign replicate those of Marshall’s

“I want people to know that if anybody is feeling like a victim and has been affected by this sort of thing either directly or indirectly, it will be okay, there will be positive outcomes, you can get past it and this is a really great resource to remind yourself of this and for people to share those experiences.”

And that idea is where the name Arrows of Bravery came from, an idea that truly resonates in Prince.

“An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards, so if life is dragging you down it is going to shoot you into something great.”

As for long-term goals for the campaign, Prince hopes to connect with some of the larger corporations in London, such as the London Abused Women’s Centre, to open up the doors to making this a more functional resource for survivors.

“Eventually I am kind of hoping that it can be a resource where people can go if they need assistance, help or a counselor to talk to, or just a place to share what they are feeling.”

But right now, Prince hopes that her site is a place where people can go to find support and comfort in knowing they are not alone and that things will get better.

“Right now my main goal is for the site to be a place where people can not only send in submissions, but people who are struggling can look at it and see how far all these other people have come.”

To find out more about the campaign, visit arrowsofbravery.tumblr.com or facebook.com/braveryarrows.