After: Surviving Sexual Assault is a new podcast for BBC Sounds that provides a space for survivors of sexual assault and abuse to share their stories and the things that have helped them to survive.
I worked as Development Producer with new presenter Catriona Morton - whose wonderful blog the podcast is based on - to develop and pitch After to BBC Sounds through Wisebuddah, navigating many complex legal and editorial challenges along the way.
We developed After to focus on a different survivor with a distinct experience in each episode, including themes that are rarely covered in mainstream reporting, like abuse in kink and BDSM. Each episode is split in two: then - where the guest talks to Catriona about their experience, and after - where they talk about the things that have helped them to recover and cope. Following development and winning the commission with BBC Sounds, I left Wisebuddah for a new project and After was produced by Danielle Stephens.
Even after #MeToo, we live in a climate that all too often focuses on famous perpetrators, not survivors. After is the most necessary, crucial project I’ve ever been lucky enough to work on.
