How being sexually assaulted can impact your career

Life After Sexual Violence: how does a survivor try to keep their job, let alone make progress in a career, when they have been raped? Seven survivors discuss how the world of work is typically a lot smoother for perpetrators of sexual violence than for victims

“It was actually hard to just get a job,” says Winnie M Li. “It was hard to just go out there and sell yourself and say, “I’m a great, you know, I’m a great hard worker!”, because people will be like “Well, why haven’t you been working for the last two years?!” and you can’t actually say “I was raped in 2008”.

Winnie is just one of the seven people who feature in Life After Sexual Violence, a series which throws a spotlight on the reality of life after a sex attack.

Our participants include Emily Jacob, 44, who runs ReConnected Life, a coaching and community program for survivors of sexual violence; Tanaka Mhishi, 24, a writer from London; Imogen Butler-Cole, 40, an actor and performer with a solo stage show ‘Foreign Body’, about life after sexual assault; Sophie Yates Lu, 28, a campaigner from London; Winnie M Li, 38, a writer and film producer, whose new book ‘Dark Chapter’ won the Guardian’s “Not the Booker” prize; Faye White, 25, a journalist; Alex Bryce, 34, a political advisor.

If you have been a victim of sexual violence, you can find your local Rape Crisis organisation here if you are a woman seeking support and services, or if you a man or a woman, through The Survivors’ Trust.