[Photos] See How This College Student Put Her Rapist On Blast
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Reclamation - Karmenife Paulino, a class of 2015 student at Weslyen University decided to make a strong, artistic statement against rape culture, and those responsible for it. Paulino was raped behind a Weslyen fraternity in 2011 and has since been dealing with the pain. To take back control of her experience and the narrative around it, she posed for her "Reclamation" project with the aim of raising awareness about sexual assault, rape culture, and how to combat its impact on society. (Photo: Karmenife Paulino and Tess Altman)
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Black Women Speaking Out - In an interview with the Wesleying Paulino said, "I founded Survivor Support Network...I noticed that most of the people speaking out are white women. And that has a lot to do with the fact that white survivors, when they speak out about their experiences, they can really represent themselves and be individuals – and survivors of color, we’re burdened with representing the whole community."(Photo: Karmenife Paulino and Tess Altman)
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Eclectic Society - Paulino organized her artistic statement in front of Eclectic Society, a fraternity on Weslyen's campus. The art included Paulino holding chains, connected to gagged male students, wearing shirts that read "Frat Filth." (Photo: Karmenife Paulino and Tess Altman)
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Looking for a Reaction - When asked why she chose to express her victimization to rape culture through art, Paulino responded, "I wanted to, sort of, grab their attention. I feel like we’ve had a lot of discussion about this issue – we’ve had speak out events, WSA meetings, but there’s not really artwork. I don’t really see artwork – and these photos speak so many different volumes. Like, you can garner so many different reactions from people with these photos, without really saying anything."(Photo: Karmenife Paulino and Tess Altman)
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A Group Effort - Paulino wants to get people who have not been victims of rape or sexual assault involved. She stated that after her attack, she had no time to heal because "no one was holding my perpetrators accountable."(Photo: Karmenife Paulino and Tess Altman)
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