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← back to comics journalism the lily · 7 april 2019 · 9 panels

An open letter to anyone who is suffering after a rape

Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Beier · Art direction by Rachel Orr

What helped, offered directly, from one survivor to another.

before you read

This piece is written for survivors and is about recovering after a rape.

The comic closes with RAINN, which runs a 24 hour hotline at rainn.org.

A title banner in black and bright turquoise reads "AN OPEN LETTER / TO ANYONE WHO IS SUFFERING AFTER A RAPE." Below, a short-haired person in glasses and a turquoise t-shirt turns toward the reader with both hands open, speaking from a large speech balloon; a black ribbon at the bottom reads "BY ELIZABETH BEIER."
A banner asks "WHAT are you FEELING right now?" above a large cracked heart split down the middle: the bright turquoise left half is lettered FEAR, SHAME and RAGE over drawn mountains, the dark grey-green right half is lettered Sadness, numbness and NOTHING over cracked ground. Black clouds along the bottom carry white text about the feelings being valid.
A wide-eyed person holds their hands up as their words, "HELLO?" and "ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?", curve away in wobbling turquoise ribbons toward a second figure trapped inside a black blob, pressing outward with both palms and thinking "WHERE AM I?". A turquoise caption box beneath gives a grounding exercise.
A dark-haired woman with her eyes closed sits calmly at the center while pale turquoise memories stream out of her hair like smoke — two friends laughing "HA HA HA HA HA HA!", a girl in pigtails holding an ice cream cone, a palm-lined beach, a figure hiking toward mountains at sunrise — all set against faint jagged shapes. Captions above and below explain the idea.
Two friends sit facing each other on a big turquoise couch holding mugs — one cross-legged in a polka-dot top and sneakers, the other in a vest, skirt and tall boots with a shaved-side haircut and a choker. A large caption box above them talks about telling trusted people how you really feel.
At night, a small lone figure stands at the bottom of a glowing turquoise path, shading her eyes to look up a steep grey mountain tangled with dark thorny brambles; a tiny lit flag marks the distant summit under a starry sky. A white caption box floats at the upper left.
The same mountain path in daylight and pale blue: a smiling woman stands at the summit beside a planted flag, one arm swept out toward clouds and sunbeams. Text in the lower right invites the reader to picture their future self.
Two versions of the same woman embrace against a glowing turquoise and near-black night sky flecked with stars; one holds the other close with her eyes closed, both drawn in luminous outline. A white caption box at the top poses a question.
A hand-lettered turquoise note fills the panel, headed "READER," with a pale drawn hand holding a brush at the lower right as if it has just written the words. Small black text under the note points to a hotline and resources.

Originally published by The Lily. Republished here by the author, who holds the rights. Every panel carries a description for screen readers.

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