Survivor Genius

A powerful call to recognize that those who have survived gender-based violence are essential to ending it, by the co-founder of Healing to Action

“In the act of surviving, survivors acquire an unmatched capacity to identify and make sense of why violence occurs, and how to stop it.” —from Survivor Genius

In an era in which presidential candidates can be elected despite a court certified finding of sexual assault, where the federal government seeks to deny the identity of transgender people, and state legislatures have sanctioned forced childbirth, the gender justice movement is in a fight for its life. Survivor Genius presents a road map for reinvigorating a part of that movement, arguing that survivors of gender-based violence are themselves the bold, resourceful, and creative leaders we need to disrupt its stigma and develop innovative solutions to end it.

Sheerine Alemzadeh, a co-director of one of the leading groups in the field, dismantles, one by one, arguments that victims are too fragile, broken, or scared to do more than share their stories in a legislative hearing. She offers a sharp analysis of the failures of traditional advocacy models led by “professionals” and argues for a new paradigm in which survivors are leading players in the movement to end gender-based violence.

Through a collection of moving stories of mostly immigrants, women of color, and people living in poverty or with disabilities, Survivor Genius offers powerful examples of how survivors of violence can both identify better solutions, tailored to their needs, and foster their own healing through collective action. It provides practical advice for field organizations and public institutions that would allow survivors to participate in and lead anti-violence work.

For readers invested in social movements, community empowerment, and public policy, Survivor Genius offers a brilliant reframing capable of transforming both cultural understanding and public policy around an issue too often normalized as inevitable.