Employing Creative Arts to Promote Post-Traumatic Growth, Healing, and Sexual Health in Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Background/Purpose: Women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) have complex sexual health concerns, such as increased risk and prevalence of STIs, endometriosis, miscarriage, and abnormal Pap tests^1-3, stemming from their experiences of sexual violence and reproductive control.⁴ In healing from intimate partner violence and (re)claiming their sexual health, women commonly use journey metaphors to describe how they increase their self-acceptance, discover their authentic sexuality, and set goals for sexual relationships that align with their authentic sexuality.⁵ Roads of Healing is a novel, trauma-informed, sexual safety planning intervention utilizing creative arts activities to help materialize these healing journeys and add richness and depth beyond sexual health content delivery. The intervention is conceptually grounded in the World Health Organization’s⁶ definition of sexual health as

a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality [which] requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence.

This presentation will describe IPV survivors’ experiences participating in Roads of Healing, focusing on their engagement with arts-based creative activities as an instrument of healing.

Results: First, arts-based activities fostered an environment rich for collective empowerment: “Like just coming to this group... this is almost like a fellowship, you know what I mean?” Second, arts-based activities helped reverse negative sexual messages from the past, rooted in gender-based oppression: “I've always been told I'm here for the men and kids. . . That's the man's body. That's the kids' body. That's everybody's but yours.” Third, the arts-based activities promoted healing by helping participants focus on their hope for a future: “I want my life to feel joy and be able to process the true understanding of how strong I am.” Participants’ gains were deeply tied to the interventions’ sexual health goals. In a post-intervention focus group, participants described gaining confidence in sexual health communication, following through with sexual healthcare appointments and a provider’s recommended screenings, and re-evaluating sexual relationships based on the exercises in boundary setting.

Conclusions: This qualitative exploration shows how creative arts activities help IPV survivors reimagine sexual health by promoting sexual empowerment along their healing journeys. It corresponds with prior research showing creative arts interventions have mental health benefits for IPV survivors⁹, allowing them to build resilience in personalized ways.¹⁰ Future research is needed to evaluate Roads of Healing and elaborate theoretically on the healing modality of creative arts for survivors.