Photojournalist Nobuko Oyabu presented her project, "Faces of Rape & Sexual Abuse Survivors" to an audience of 30 people Monday night as part of Sexual Assault Prevention Week. Oyabu, whose impetus came from her own rape three years ago, has photographed more than 70 victims of rape and sexual abuse as part of the project.
During her speech and photograph slide-show, Oyabu presented statistics of sex crimes in the United States, but most of her presentation centered on her dual experience as a journalist and rape victim.
Oyabu said she did not consider herself a potential rape victim until it happened to her. "I never believed rape would happen to me," Oyabu said. "Rape belonged to someone else."
Everything changed the night of Aug. 9, 1999, when she was raped in her home by a former neighbor. While the man was caught three days later, the emotional scars the assault caused lingered for much longer, beginning with a phase of nearly paralyzing grief.
"For the first two weeks I did not do anything. I just sat there and cried. Now that I look back, it was a time of grieving," Oyabu said. "I was grieving for the part of me that was taken away by rape."
Oyabu said that her period of mourning was followed by a time of hard work, which at the time seemed to signal that she had put the rape behind her. However, she continued to suffer from depression, nightmares and flashbacks. It was not until she spoke out publicly about her experience in her church that she began to reconcile her pain.
She also found comfort by taking her pastor's suggestion and writing a letter to her attacker in jail.
"Something took hold of me and I started writing. I dropped the letter off and felt I was set free," Oyabu said. "Then I started laughing. I had no more nightmares or flashbacks. I needed to claim who I was from the person who stole it from me."
Another part of the healing process has been her work on the "Faces"--a black-and-white portraits project that depicts victims of rape and sexual abuse. The project began when her friends, who were also survivors of sexual abuse or assaults, agreed to pose as the original subjects. After they agreed, Oyabu was flooded with requests from other former victims who wanted to be involved in the project.
Oyabu said while she did not "appreciate that [rape] happened to [her]," she was happy with the ways in which she has responded, particularly through her work as an artist.
She has traveled across the country, including working in places from Hawaii to North Dakota. Oyabu is currently working on a project for the state of North Dakota, documenting the images of sexual abuse survivors in various Native American communities.
The "Faces" project has been on tour throughout the United States and was on display in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., in honor of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.
Oyabu's speech was followed by a reception in The Perk, where her photographs are on display this week.
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