Risa Shaw (she/her), a survivor of sibling sexual abuse, has been an outspoken activist for over four decades confronting the secrecy, shame, silence and stigma around SSA. Her personal and professional work on disclosure began with her disclosure to her own family in 1984 at age 24. Her 2007 PhD research examined disclosure stories of Deaf and hearing SSA survivors. It is the first and only of its kind conducted by a survivor on/with survivor voices on disclosing to their family members. As a (now retired) Professor of Interpreting and Linguistics at Gallaudet University, she mentored students, confronted institutional racism and homophobia, and focused her research on power and privilege. In 2000 she published Not Child’s Play, an anthology of poetry, prose, and visual art from 35 SSA survivor, the only book to focus on SSA at the time. With the release of the second edition in 2023, she reaffirmed her commitment to giving space to SSA survivors’ stories that have long been buried.

 

As a researcher with lived experience, who has been public for nearly three decades, Risa speaks with compassion, understanding and respect for trauma survivors. She believes it is crucial to center voices of lived experience in research. 

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​Risa writes, "My vision is a world where survivors of sexual abuse are heard, believed, and supported — where silence no longer dominates, and where speaking truth is honored as courageous, not denigrated as shame. I want a future where agency, consent, accountability, and repair are taught and expected. Those of us with lived experience need one another, to tell our stories and imagine into being ways of transforming this world."