By Your GINA Sister on behalf of GINA
Artwork by Jemma Third
“An effortlessly heartfelt debut full of encouragement and lessons for this and future generations”
– The Student Newspaper | The University of Edinburgh
An honest, personal and at times, funny account into the many emotions individuals are subjected to following an experience of sexual assault. Fiercely empowering, maybe it is also a love letter to all young women, especially to those who have been subjected to sexual assault and violence, as this is sadly far too common for all women. Written as the older sister or friend you might be looking for right now, the author opens up about her own path through the recovery process in order to make you feel less alone and to normalise the thousands of overwhelming emotions you might well be experiencing.
Foreword by GINA:
An unapologetically authentic exploration of sexual violence & the issues that are impacting young women today. This book will meet you where you are.
It beautifully captures the messy nature of a young woman navigating sexual trauma, mental health, sex, friendships and relationships. This book is not afraid to discuss the important stuff and will resonate with young women everywhere.
In this book, you will discover authenticity, strength and female solidarity. These pages contain trails and tribulations that are reflected within the lives of young women everywhere.
These pages reflect our experiences. They may well reflect yours too.
If you're an organisation interested in purchasing To Be A Woman in bulk (customization available), please get in touch.
What people are saying:
“To women who have been subjected to any form of sexual violence & violence (& even those who haven’t): This is a beautiful book, written by my beautiful friend & I cannot recommend it enough. I have sat on my living room floor laughing out loud, ugly crying & feeling so many emotions in between. She has poured her heart out into these words & I sincerely hope they reach the people who need to hear them most. It is raw, honest, relatable, emotional, empowering & inspirational. Not only does it address the complex emotions & questions women may have after rape & sexual assault, but it de-stigmatises conversations about rape & discusses issues at the root of our society. It captures the essence of what it means to be a woman & everything that comes with it.” - Alex
“I loved the structure of the book – all the chapters really build on each other. I loved how personal and chatty it was – I really liked you writing style. I loved the little poems and quotes that were included at the start of each chapter – I thought that was lovely and shows what influenced the author. I also loved the chapter on ‘Everything I wish I had known when I was 15’. I just thought the book was great and will definitely be recommending it to my friends. As someone, who hasn’t had the same experience as you, it was so important to read and understand a personal perspective and the different stages and how everyone copes it very differently. I have learnt a lot from it. The journal was great too!” - Esther
“It was well written and powerful. It felt like someone was speaking to me rather than reading a text off the pages, an uncomfortable comfortable, so in that sense it was hard to read. It made me feel like when my daughter told me her story; emotionally charged.”
“The book was phenomenal…I gobbled it up, I will probably read it through again too to properly absorb it – I got a bit excited to read some passages that I related to so much.”
“I've just finished To Be A Woman. I need to say thank you. Thank you for being open and vulnerable. Thank you for being funny and relatable. Thank you for being yourself and talking about the things we women have to go through. I feel empowered and reminded of all the great friendships I have. You are right, being a woman really is beautiful...”
"sensitive & super engaging"
"'I’ve just finished reading your book “To Be A Woman” and I can’t really put into words just how incredible that book is. It reduced me to tears in places and actually the bit I cried most at was the last sentence in your afterword “I hope I have helped you” because you have helped me. So much. You validated everything I’ve been feeling for the past two years and helped me work through so many emotions. It was like you’d pulled thoughts straight out of my head and written them down. I’ve personally struggled with the feeling that what happened “didn’t count” and so I’ve never spoken about it and also because if I did speak about it, then that means accepting that it actually happened. But having read your book and discovering it’s total normal to feel like that and educating myself on what actually “counts” as sexual assault/rape, it gave me the confidence to reach out to student services at my uni. They have since referred me to the local SARC to get weekly counselling. I already feel so much lighter knowing that I’ve started my healing journey. And it’s all thanks to you. Genuinely without reading your book I don’t think I would have ever reached out for help and would have always thought that my feelings were invalid and I just needed to “get over it”. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. To take such an awful experience and turn it into something as inspiring as this book is nothing short of incredible."