Supported by Il-Premju tal-President għall-Kreattività

St Jeanne Antide Foundation

Through the project My Survival, My Experience 25 female survivors of domestic violence participated, for the first time, in creative social activism.

They turned the tables when they planned and held a conference for key stakeholders in the domestic violence sector, delivering speeches based on qualitative insider-research they conducted. The second phase of the project involved an art therapy programme by which survivors processed their thoughts and messages using artistic creative media. The project involved the use of narration, writing, art and drama as four key mediums to create a more informed public understanding of the reality of intimate partner abuse, its effects and the hidden struggles of resilient survivors. It has afforded participants protection to express themselves without being identified, and it afforded them different methods of expression, including therapeutic ones. 



Their creative work, including the research, was then compiled into the book Phoenix Rising which is being used to raise awareness on the journey of surviving domestic violence and includes the 37 policy recommendations that emerged from the workshops held during the conference.

This book is available from