When Rory Banwell was pregnant with a little girl, a chance comment made her think about the way that society treats females
As a woman: This subject posed with the words 'I Am Not Your Property' on her body |
A photo series featuring nearly naked models has been shared online with the message that a victim of sexual assault is never to blame for their attack.
Rory
Banwell's images, taken in stark black and white, show women and men of
various ages and sizes with powerful messages written on their bodies.
"I
am not your property", says one, and "Bisexual - Still not asking for
it" reads another, all showing that a person's body is always under
their own control.
Rory, who is based in Coff's Harbour in New South Wales, Australia, was inspired to start the series of powerful images in 2014 when she and her husband Alex found out she was pregnant with a girl.
Someone actually said to Alex that it was "time to buy a gun" and we
were so disappointed that people's initial reactions were that we would
need to protect her, purely because of her gender," Rory told Daily Mail
Australia.
She felt like the matter-of-fact approach to her child's safety being in jeopardy was difficult.
"I decided I needed to do something; being a photographer, I knew
that I could use this medium to accomplish my something and so 'Still
Not Asking For It' was born."
Inspired by an image of a woman at a
Slut Walk in Toronto with tape covering her nipples and 'Still not
asking for it' written on her body, Rory set to work snapping men and
women with empowering messages scrawled on their skin.
Rory's Tumblr and Facebook pages
features the images, and Rory herself even appeared in one shot when
she was pregnant, holding a sign that says 'I don't want my child to be
born into a society that accepts sexual violence."
Rory has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for more photoshoots around Australia, including travel and exhibition costs.
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