Surviving the Silence

Charlotte Pierce-Baker weaves together the accounts of black women who have been raped and who have felt that they had to remain silent in order to protect themselves and their race. The book opens with the author's own account of being raped in her middle-class home outside Philadelphia. It continues, telling of the author's family's response, the ordeal of going to court and the desperate attempts of the members of the family to mend their lives. In the course of her work as a volunteer for Women Organized Against Rape, Pierce-Baker collected stories of other rape victims. The middle section of the book provides the testimonies of ten "silent survivors" - women who were sexually molested by male relatives during childhood, subjected to "acquaintance rape" or, like the author, assaulted by strangers. The final section gives voice to men who have supported the women they love who have been raped. These narratives are combined to tell of black women's survival after sexual violence.

ISBN 0393046613   DEWEY edition DC21 ISBN13 9780393046618 (What's this?)   Pages 288 Publisher WW Norton & Co   Volumes 000 Imprint WW Norton & Co   Weight (grammes) 490 Format Hardback   Published in New York Publication date 06 Jan 1999   Height (mm) 216 Non-book description 284 p. ;   Width (mm) 148 Library of Congress HV6561.P54   Spine width (mm) 29 DEWEY 362.88308996   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly

		Beginnings		15
I		Personal Narrative		25
		A Wound to the Soul		27
		Aftermath		41
		Going Public		52
		Looking for Home		60
		Full Circle		71
II		Silent Survivors: The Other Women's Stories		83
		Ruth		87
		Grace		96
		Matilda		105
		Evie		117
		Yvonne		122
		Jacqueline		140
		Adrienne		152
		Tanya		164
		Harriett		180

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