April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. During April, the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC) is partnering with Portland State University Library, as well as other local libraries and bookstores, to provide a list of books for survivors of sexual assault, their friends and family members, and the community as a whole.
SARC provides services, resources, and referrals for counseling and case management as well as a 24-hour support line.
If you or someone you know would like to speak to an advocate, please call the support line at 503-640-5311 or toll-free at 888-640-5311.
Here are books suggested by SARC. Links for books go to these titles at PSU Library and Summit, if available. Please ask a librarian if you need help locating these or other books.
Sexual Assault and Recovery
Healing Trauma, by Peter Levine
I Never Called it Rape, by Robin Warshaw
Sexual Healing Journey (3rd ed.), by Wendy Maltz
Trauma and Recovery, by Judith Herman
Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation, by Suzette Boon
The Trauma Tool Kit, by Susan Pease Banitt
The Rape Recovery Handbook: Step-by-Step Help for Survivors of Sexual Assault, by Aphrodite Matsakis
Life After Trauma: A Workbook for Healing, by Dena Rosenbloom and Mary Beth Williams
The Courage to Heal, by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
Sexual Assault and Recovery (Spanish)
Superando El Dolor, by Eliana Gil
El Coraje de Sanar, by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
For Friends and Family
Allies in Healing: When the Person you Love was Sexually Abused as a Child, by Laurie Davis
Ending Sexual Violence
Transforming a Rape Culture, by Emilie Buchwald
Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape, by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
Girls Like Us, by Rachel Lloyd
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wu Dunn
Social Impact of Pornography
Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity, by Robert Jensen
Pornland, by Gale Dines
Books for Children
Hands are Not for Hurting, by Nora Gaydos
Hey Little Ant, Phillip M. Hoose
A Very Touching Book, by Jan Hindman
It’s My Body, by Lory Freeman
Something Happened and I’m Afraid to Tell, by Patricia Kehoe
Laurie Tells, by Linda Lowery
Note: The issues of sexual assault and sexual exploitation are manifested in a variety of ways and have multiple components. This book list represents a variety of opinions, not all which are endorsed by SARC or PSU Library. However, SARC feels that these books are worth examining.