Diving into our published research 

Talking about trauma isn’t easy. For survivors of sexual harm, the idea of sharing your story may feel nearly impossible. Fear of judgment, stigma, or even just not knowing where to turn can prevent survivors from seeking support. But healing doesn’t need to happen in isolation.

As an online space for survivors, Our Wave allows you to anonymously share experiences, ask questions, and connect with other survivors who may be going through a similar journey. You don’t need to tell your story, but the platform offers a space where you can if and when you’re ready.

Our first published research dives into the impact of our platform’s digital space and this article explores its main points and findings. Discover how anonymity, community, and trauma-informed design help survivors reclaim their voices, find support, and take steps toward healing.

The Need for Safe Digital Spaces

Our published research emphasizes the devastatingly, all-too-common nature of sexual violence (SV), presenting it as a public health crisis. It cites that “approximately one in three women, one in six men, and one in two gender-diverse individuals experience SV during their lifetime.”

Storytelling emerges as a form of disclosure for survivors to reclaim power and rewrite their own narrative. However, negative social reactions to disclosure can have detrimental effects on survivors’ recovery process and contribute to PTSD symptoms.

There are many challenges that survivors face when seeking support. The study reveals that barriers to support is multifaceted, including:

• Fear of retaliation from perpetrators or negative reactions from community members

• Confidentiality concerns about personal information being shared without consent

• Geographic isolation limiting access to specialized services and support groups

• Stigma and shame that continues to surround sexual violence

Online anonymous spaces address these barriers by providing safe environments where survivors can share their experiences without fear of judgment or identification. The Our Wave platform represents a digital solution designed specifically to support healing through anonymous storytelling and community connection.

Our Wave Platform: Design and Key Features 

Our Wave aims to address the challenges that existing platforms face, such as privacy protections, content moderation, and lack of trauma-informed designs or access to resources and services. While some social media platforms are used for survivors’ story sharing experience, Our Wave’s platform includes data tagging functionalities specifically for survivors of sexual harm. The key platform features include anonymous story sharing, survivor Q&A, and educational exhibits.

Anonymous story sharing

Our platform represents a safe space for survivors to share their experiences. Survivors of sexual harm can share narratives or visual media with self-selected tags related to demographics, details about the assault or abuse, and general location. They can also add a “Message of Healing” to their story, which is a reflection of how their healing process is going and what it means to them.

After submitting stories, the information is redacted by the Our Wave team, who then provides tailored resources and posts to the platform. Survivors can periodically make updates to their story as they go through their healing journey, demonstrating that needs and experiences change over time.

Survivor Q&A

Users also have the opportunity to ask questions about their experiences to our trauma experts, who then post evidence-informed responses three to five days later. All of the Q&As are displayed on the platform so other survivors can read and find answers if they are going through similar situations. A content analysis was done from the platforms’ first 100 questions and seven core themes were revealed:

• Validating personal traumatic experiences and recognizing harm that had occurred

• Understanding what trauma is and the dynamics within specific types of harm

• Navigating relationships with family, friends, and future partners after trauma

• Managing emotions and bodily reactions to trauma

• Disclosing trauma to loved ones and seeking help

• Finding and embracing healing

• Supporting survivors and being an ally 

Educational Exhibits

Our educational exhibits are collaborative projects with activists, artists, researchers, and survivors. These projects explore everything from survivorship, trauma, violence, and healing. The goal with our exhibits is to build awareness through storytelling. Examples include a photography exhibit on the meaning of healing, an art gallery of male survivors, a “What Were You Wearing?” exhibit, and a film about different healing journeys.

Our Wave Platform: Usage and Engagement 

When the research for this report was being conducted in 2024, Our Wave had over 100,000 members and more than 1,200 stories shared (741 directly on the Our Wave platform and 451 submitted to partner organizations). These numbers have since drastically increased, as seen from our 2024 Impact Report. Out of these submissions, 86.7 percent of stories provided consent for research purposes, creating a valuable dataset for understanding patterns of healing and gaps in care.

In addition to submitted stories, the platform shows strong engagement with its optional features designed to foster community support and healing. Nearly 58 percent of story submissions included a “Message of Healing” and 52.46 percent of stories contained a “Message of Hope,” which is a direct message of encouragement for another survivor.

The report’s “journey map” reveals another aspect of user behavior on the platform. Many visitors engage with multiple features (reading stories, reviewing expert answers, and accessing the resource hub) before and after sharing their own stories. This suggests that "the act of story disclosure is a motivating factor to build continual engagement for visitors."

Research Findings: The Impact of Our Wave

From October 2020 to November 2024, website visitors had the opportunity to anonymously submit a survey about their experience with the site. Content analysis of the 288 total survey responses was conducted, generating codes and then preliminary themes. Six major themes emerged from these survey responses:

• Value of story posting: Users appreciated the opportunity to share their experiences and find space to open up.

• Importance of reading others’ stories: Reading others’ stories provided support, encouragement, and reduced feelings of isolation. 

• Care and concern for impact on readers: Survivors who shared their story also expressed awareness of the potential impact of their stories on others. 

• Desire for community support: Users wanted more opportunities for interaction and connection with other survivors. 

• Interest in community interaction: Similarly, feedback included requests for features like comments or the ability to connect with others.

• Perspectives on anonymity versus identification: While most users valued anonymity, some expressed interest in non-anonymous posting options.

Ethical Considerations and Trauma-Informed Design

Our Wave’s platform demonstrates the role that anonymous, trauma-informed digital spaces play in supporting survivors of sexual harm. Privacy and anonymity are key features to facilitate disclosure and create a sense of safety. All sensitive data is secured using industry-standard encryption protocols with regular security audits.

Unlike social media platforms where negative reactions or "trolling" can be detrimental to healing, Our Wave implements content moderation guided by trauma-informed principles. This creates an environment specifically designed to prevent retraumatization and foster supportive interactions.

Survivor autonomy remains central to the platform's design, allowing users to share experiences at their own pace and maintain control over their narratives through editing or deleting. Ultimately, online platforms can reach survivors who may face barriers to accessing in-person support and provide a sense of digital community.

The Future of Online Survivor Support

While Our Wave has made significant progress in developing a trauma-informed platform, important accessibility challenges remain. Future development will focus on creating a more inclusive experience across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and language barriers through multilingual support and improved mobile design.

The platform aims to enhance community connection through expanded tag systems for self-expression and the integration of peer support features like real-time chat. Developing referral systems to professional support services is another priority, alongside strengthening research and creative partnerships.

Additional expansion plans include integrating real-time expert consultations, webinars, and more educational resources. Future research is needed to evaluate the long-term impact of digital platforms on survivors’ mental health, social support networks, and engagement with formal services.

Beyond direct survivor support, Our Wave's approach has wider applications that could transform how we address sexual violence as a society:

• Public policy: Insights from the platform can inform data protection laws that ensure confidentiality and safety of survivors in digital spaces.

• Clinical practice: Mental health professionals can leverage platform data to better understand survivor concerns and adapt their therapeutic approaches.

• SV prevention programs: The platform's educational exhibits provide a model for raising awareness and addressing victim-blaming narratives.

Meeting Survivors Where They Are and Creating Safe Digital Environments

Our published research demonstrates how the Our Wave platform addresses gaps in traditional support systems by offering survivors a safe, anonymous, and empowering space to share experiences, reflect on healing journeys, and connect with others.

The platform meets survivors wherever they are in their healing process. This could look like users sharing personal stories, finding comfort in others' similar experiences, or seeking answers to questions about recovery and moving forward.

Our commitment to privacy, anonymity, peer connection, and trauma-informed design helps facilitate disclosure and healing within the digital space. If you or someone you know needs a platform to share, Our Wave is here to support you.

Continued investment and support will help us to expand our reach, deepen our impact, and contribute to a broader culture of healing and resilience. Read our full research paper and join us in our work to create safer, more supportive digital environments for all survivors of sexual harm.