Art can provoke, excite, and fascinate, and it can also heal.
For survivors of childhood sexual abuse, there is no obvious route to healing, and healing isn’t always perfect or complete.
But when words fail, survivors sometimes use art to confront their experiences and find new strength.
Dr Dougie Marks, a health psychologist, cognitive behavioural therapy practitioner, and lecturer at the University of Glasgow, said this was one of the motivations behind “Victorious Voices,” an exhibition on display at the university as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.
One aspect of the exhibition featured drawings done by young survivors of childhood sexual abuse during their therapy sessions. In the bright crayon style of young children, the artworks depict and describe horrific abuse, often carried out by a parent or some other trusted figure.
Dr Marks helped organise the exhibition along with Carron Carson, clinical supervisor and psychotherapist, and artist Lee Cooper.
During a tour, he explained the complex ways in which art can aid therapy and unlock solutions.
"When it's childhood abuse, quite often the thing people need to realise is that they're not that child anymore. The point of memory isn't just to remember information. The point of memory is so you know how to act in the future.
"The reason that a traumatic memory gets stuck is because the brain is saying 'there is something in that experience that is threatening and dangerous that I need to be on the lookout for in the future.'"
But confronting those memories is no simple task, he said. It takes practice and it often takes therapy, although sometimes the journey isn't a straight path.
"If somebody has been abused, very rarely is that the problem they come to therapy with. It's the emotions or patterns of behaviour.
"The mental health symptoms you have are like the fruit on the tree, and the trauma is the root.
"As a therapist, you build a relationship with them and you begin exploring the problems.
"Art is often the breakthrough for young kids, because it's easier for them to think visually than to think verbally.
"It's just one tool in the toolbox, but it can be a really effective tool."
They were taken by Manchester artist Lee Cooper, himself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Dr Marks said the photographs represented a brave step in the healing process for the adult survivors.
"This public display of art for a lot of these people is the next step. This is no longer a thing of shame, this is something that I can show to the world. This is part of facing the dragon."
Mr Cooper's Victorious Voices is a project aimed at breaking the silence and stigma around childhood sexual abuse, and bringing to light how prevalent abuse is and how survivors feel marginalised.
He said that his camera "acts as a bridge, connecting hearts and minds through the profound vulnerability captured in every frame."
He said the university exhibition provided a platform for survivors and that, in many cases, it represented a very public step at the end of a long, private battle.
"With CSA (childhood sexual abuse), for a lot of people the healing unfolds a bit like a flower. For a lot of years, most of us will have been in denial with ourselves. You can completely split off from your own reality.
"So the first step is admitting that it happened to you. And that's not an easy step. It took me 17 years to reach that step.
"So for some people to have reached a stage where not only have they overcome that dear, but they will go into a public space and share the most intimate part of themselves, that's a huge thing and that's how you can cultivate change."
Because the public display isn't only about helping the survivors in his photos, Mr Cooper said. It's also about attacking the root causes that allow childhood sexual abuse to continue being a problem that harms so many.
"People like to think it's rare, and that it doesn't happen. It does. It's extremely common. As survivors, you get to see the picture better than others, because we see how many people will tell us what happened, but they won't tell you, for instance.
"Just like with any difficult truth, it requires an effort to understand, and a lot of people aren't willing to do that because it's a disturbing topic.
"But in that avoidance, children get harmed. It still happens, because people want to deny the reality.
"Silence and stigma are the glue that holds all this together. Silence is what perpetrators count on. Without that, they've got no cover."
There were roughly 107,000 instances of child sexual abuse and exploitation reported in 2022, but many crimes go unreported and perpetrators unpunished.
Of the eight members of the Victorious Voices exhibition, only one survivor has seen their abuser convicted of a crime.
Carron Carson said that the system needs to do more to help survivors and prosecute abusers.
"There is a significant problem with the criminal justice system. It is not fit for purpose when it comes to prosecuting child sexual abuse allegations. It is re-traumatising and disheartening for the most part.
"Conviction rates for child sexual abuse have dropped by half, despite child sexual abuse rapidly rising. Worryingly, the UK has seen an increasing trend in peer-on-peer sexual abuse, which accounts for 43% of reported incidents, and has included rape perpetrated by other children."
She said that the exhibition is a step towards progress.
"A public exhibition pierced the silent curtain that hides child sexual abuse in everyday life. Scientifically speaking, the evidence base is clear: children very rarely lie about sexual abuse, and the harsh reality of this fact is experienced very deeply when you feel the impact of CSA on a real person. You cannot deny their truth.
"I hope that our exhibition has left the audience with conviction about society’s rebuttal of child sexual abuse allegations. I encourage survivors to speak out; your voice matters. “
The impact of the trauma which causes survivors to repress their experiences, the reluctance of the public to engage with the disturbing realities of abuse and the stigma around public declarations all create challenges for survivors, Mr Cooper said.
This is one reason he was disappointed when, following unspecified complaints, the university decided to move the exhibition out of the entryway at the Advanced Research Centre and into a side studio room.
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But Mr Cooper said that, wherever the photos are displayed, nothing can discredit the bravery shown by the survivors who chose to show put themselves on display.
"This exhibition has got actual power. It takes a lot of courage to share what we've shared. It's the highlight of resilience, true resilience.
"If you let it, this abuse will destroy you. Some people don't make it, some people kill themselves. That's the sad reality.
"It destroys a part of who you are if you've been violated in the worst way. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to recover from that.
"Strength, resilience, hope: that's what we put on display."
Many individuals have reached out to the organisers to express their thanks for putting the exhibition on display. One said that, after feeling along for 30 years, they are beginning to understand their experiences thanks to the stories of other survivors.
"It is so important to break the silence and share our stories.
"It really does help to know we are not broken and we are not alone."
Victorious Voices is running at the Advanced Research Centre at the University of Glasgow through October 25.
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