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Introductory text Why would anyone want to use clay pots to tell stories about surviving sexual violence? It's the “surviving” bit that's important. Clay pots are long lasting. They invite contemplation. They are a primary source of evidence from archaeological sites. They can be shattered and pieced back together. These pots tell the forgotten stories, the ones left behind after the journalists and NGOs have departed, the ones the editors ignored because they didn't fit the “real rape” template. The perpetrators are known, they are not the strangers in the dark alley; the woman survives, lives on beyond the aftermath, into a slightly altered life. Or it might be dramatically altered. Or she may not have survived, or not into the long term. In Britain we inhabit a society which has become far too tolerant of male violence, too afraid to name the perpetrator; and we have a criminal justice system which has proved itself incapable of condemning any man who rapes. Shattered is an act of mourning, a memorial, a protracted mending process, and an exploration of the different form that emerges from the mending. It celebrates survival, but it's also a call for action.
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