Made with in Raleigh, NC, USA
© Our Wave 2026. All rights reserved.
A survivor refers to anyone who has experienced sexual harm, domestic violence, or childhood abuse.
In 2025, Our Wave reached a major milestone. We grew to nearly 480,000 community members and welcomed over 220,000 new survivors and allies to our space. We also launched a new and improved community page, enabling deeper connections between survivors and opportunities for allies to share public messages of support. Across the platform, survivors continued to share their stories, ask questions, and find strength in collective healing. With over 1.5 million content views and more than 100,000 resource referrals in 2025, our community has become a trusted space where survivors know that they are not alone.
We nearly doubled our community, welcoming over 220,000 new members to reach nearly 480,000 total survivors, allies, and supporters
We launched the Our Wave platform in Japanese
We added official resource support for 28 countries across the globe
We launched our new Our Wave Community 2.0 Platform, enabling survivors to support one another directly
Nearly 400 new survivor stories were shared, accompanied by over 370 messages of hope and healing from the community
We connected survivors to more than 100,000 resource referrals, helping them access mental health support, crisis services, and educational materials
Our community expanded to survivors in 73 countries
We launched our 10th storytelling community in partnership with Trey's Law
Questions now account for more than a third of all content reads by survivors
Our community is the heart of Our Wave. In 2025 we saw tremendous growth and welcomed over 220,000 new members. With the launch of our new community page, survivors and allies can now engage more deeply with one another. Our 500+ comments shared and 900,000+ content views this year reflect a community actively engaged in healing together.
Active community members in 2025
New community members in 2025
Content views all time 2
Content views in 2025
We define a view as a meaningful period in which a user reads or engages with content on our platform, including survivor stories, questions, and resources.
Comments posted all time 2
Comments posted in 2025
A comment is a meaningful response to a survivor, written by a fellow community member. Our team actively moderates all comments to ensure our community is always a safe space for survivors.
Story reactions all time 2
Story reactions in 2025
Story reactions are pre-written messages of support that Our Wave users can send anonymously to survivors who share their story. This allows the community to show support while protecting a safe space for survivors.
Survivor milestones achieved in 2025
Grounding exercises completed
Milestones mark the number of times our community has engaged with each survivor's story. Each milestone represents the impact a survivor's story has had on other survivors, allies, and the community as a whole.
Messages of support posted all time 2
Messages of support posted in 2025
Survivors, allies, and community members can share messages of support with the global community. These messages give a voice to anyone and everyone who is here to help support survivors.
Storytelling continues to be at the core of Our Wave's mission. In 2025, survivors shared 389 new stories, each one an act of courage and a gift to others walking similar paths. These stories were posted by a global community across 73 countries, creating a tapestry of support that extends far beyond any single experience. These stories reached hundreds of thousands, reminding survivors everywhere that their voices matter and their healing is possible.
Survivor stories shared in 2025
Survivor artwork shared
Messages of hope posted
Messages of healing shared
Hover over the map to explore
Country
Stories shared 2
United States
1,039 +26%
United Kingdom
108 +37%
Ireland
95 +23%
Canada
66 +65%
Australia
42 +14%
India
25 +67%
Philippines
14 +27%
Germany
13 +44%
South Africa
13 +18%
Japan
12 +300%
+63 more
State/Territory
Stories shared 2
California
106 +51%
New York
70 +30%
Texas
68 +31%
Florida
56 +14%
Pennsylvania
48 +26%
Minnesota
38 +23%
Ohio
37 +19%
Illinois
35 +40%
Georgia
28 +40%
North Carolina
26 +18%
+41 more
When a survivor shares their story with our community, they have the option of selecting tags that represent their identity and their story. These include gender, race, location in which the story took place, and their relationship to the offender.
Our Q&A section saw remarkable growth in 2025, with 365 questions submitted by survivors and answered by experts. The most-asked topic this year centered on making sense of childhood experiences, reflecting the need for thoughtful, expert-informed answers about complex trauma. From questions about consent and boundaries to processing difficult memories, each inquiry represents a brave step toward understanding and healing.
Survivor questions answered all time
Survivor questions answered in 2025
Question
Views
Is it abuse to force or pressure someone into a romantic relationship or into dating you?
1,495
I need clarity about childhood sexual behaviors that I now feel guilty about. When I was 10-11, my younger brother was 6-7 years old. After being exposed to pornography around that time, I engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviors with my brother including oral contact and attempted anal contact. This happened a few times before stopping. Later, around age 12, I also engaged in sexual experimentation with my cousin of similar age. When I was 18, I remembered these events and felt deep shame. I spoke with my brother about it when he was 14, and he told me it was okay. Recently, I've been thinking about it again and feeling like I committed child-on-child sexual abuse (COCSA). Should I talk to my brother about it again? We have a good relationship now, and I didn't force or threaten him, but I feel remorseful and ashamed. How can I process these feelings?
1,241
Why did my cousin and I touch each other's private parts when we were little? Is this normal or does it mean something concerning?
1,038
I understand that sexual arousal can sometimes occur during trauma flashbacks for survivors. I'm seeking to understand from a mental health perspective: Is it psychologically healthy or harmful to engage in consensual sexual activity (either alone or with a partner) when experiencing these trauma responses? How can survivors navigate these complex physical reactions in a way that supports healing?
906
A few years ago, I had a memory resurface of when I was 11-12 years old. I briefly (for a few seconds) placed the back of my hand on a family friend's (5-year-old male) private area. I remember him saying 'that is my private area' and I immediately removed my hand and never did that again. I'm not sure why I did it. I had a lot of sexual curiosity at that age and exposure to pornography. No other sexual actions occurred between us, and there was no intent to do anything sexual. I think I was just curious. I spoke to a therapist who said this wasn't COCSA or any sexual crime, and that it's not uncommon. She noted that although there was an age difference, there were no sexual actions taken or force/manipulation used. Do you agree with my therapist? I'm not sure if this was a crime or just normal childhood exploration.
884
+360 more
Hover over the map to explore
Country
Questions submitted 2
United States
333 +123%
Kuwait
53 +39%
United Kingdom
52 +148%
Canada
35 +250%
Mexico
24 +167%
Brazil
21 +11%
India
20 +233%
South Africa
18 +38%
Australia
15 +150%
Argentina
14 +367%
+34 more
State/Territory
Questions submitted 2
California
33 +94%
Florida
20 +150%
Texas
20 +82%
Alabama
17 +89%
Maryland
13 +160%
Pennsylvania
13 +63%
Virginia
13 +225%
Georgia
10 +400%
Missouri
10 +400%
North Carolina
10 +100%
+31 more
In 2025, survivors connected with more than 100,000 resource referrals, accessing mental health professionals, crisis support services, and educational materials. As our community grows, so does our commitment to ensuring every survivor has access to the tools and support they need. By maintaining trusted referrals in a safe digital environment, we help survivors take confident steps toward their healing journey.
We define a resource referral as each time a visitor to Our Wave clicks on a link to visit one of our trusted resource partners. These links appear in our Resources hub, in emails that we send to our community, and throughout the navigation of our platform.
Resource referrals all time 2
Resource referrals in 2025
Resource Name
Referrals
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
21,356
Violence Against Women Helpline
4,829
NO MORE Global Directory
4,432
Sexual Violence Helpline Montreal
3,365
SOS WOMAN Line 37
3,184
Women's Emergency Helpline Dominican Republic
2,930
Violence-Free Line Mexico
2,888
Line 114 Honduras
2,876
Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender Equality
2,748
0800-MUJERES Venezuela
2,730
+82 more
This report encompasses data collected from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026.
All stories and messages written by survivors are used with the survivors' permission to publish.
We made significant changes to the breadth of our metrics reporting efforts from 2024 to 2025. Because of these changes, some metrics will show growth discrepancies from previous years.
1 Comparison to the same metric during the previous annual report period.
2 Aggregated metrics from the founding of Our Wave in 2019 to the end of 2025.
3 Community members are defined by unique IP addresses that visit our Community platform over a given period of time. We periodically clean up our metrics to remove IPs from known scrapers, crawlers, and bots.
4 Demographic and tag data from stories submitted directly to the core Our Wave storytelling platform (community.ourwave.org)
Do you have any questions or recommendations about our data? Send us an email at [email protected].
Our Wave depends on your generous contributions for our continued success. Give today and support us as we work to support survivors of sexual harm and domestic violence.
Read stories Give todayUpdates, events, and ways to help out. Directly to your inbox.
CubaOur Wave is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and an anonymous service. For additional resources, visit the Our Wave Resources Hub. If this is an emergency, please contact your local emergency service.
