Contact | Rebecca Hawkins

The petrified Survivors Memorial

The first global memorial for all survivors sexual violence in conflict.

Background

Following on from the Mother & Child, and its placement in St James’s Sq in 2018, I saw first hand, how survivors found so much healing in having a sculpture that stood and talked on their behalf. I began to read more about the issue, and quickly realised that hundreds of thousands of survivors will never get their day in court, and that many die from their injuries, feeling unseen and unheard. I read Christina Lambs book, “Our bodies, their battlefield, what war does to women”. In it, she talked about how there wasnt yet a global memorial for survivors of sexual violence in conflict, and it felt like this was the next natural step along this path. As the world closed down for covid, we were presented with a unique opportunity to easily reach out to organisations supporting survivors, through zoom, and to find out whether there was an appetite among survivors and the organisations that support them, for a survivor centred memorial. What followed, has been 4 years of collaboration with these organisations and the women, men and children they support, through questionaires, testimonies and zoom calls, we have created a memorial that is as inclusive as we could possibly make it, and as survivor centred as this type of global reaching collaboration could realistically achieve.

After 3 years of outreach, wewere invited to site it in The Hague in time for the NATO summit in June 2025, which gave us something to aim for, and all elements swung into action.

The Memorial will reside in Mitte District in Berlin until September 2027.

The memorial in the Amabassadors gardens in The Hague.

Concept

In cities across the globe, countless monuments commemorate the heroism of male combatants in war. Yet, the stories of those who have suffered sexual violence during conflict often remain unheard, their pain unacknowledged and their voices silenced.

Petrified Survivors was born from this stark absence. It is a memorial created for survivors, by survivors. It is the first sculpture designed for all victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence in war and conflict. The sculpture gives a platform to communities that have long been marginalised, their stories buried beneath layers of stigma, shame, and the crushing reality that justice is often out of reach.

Above: The Dove flying to release her

Symbolism

The sculpture depicts a petrified woman, with a baby strapped to her back, ensnared by strangler fig vines. She stands on a rotatable compass, symbolising the universal prevalence of the issue. The woman and her child are bound together by entwined roots and their shared suffering as they strive to move forward on the difficult path towards justice and healing. Many survivors identify with trees or mountains as symbols of strength, and trees herald a defiant nature with their roots that travel down a long way. The word ‘petrified’ refers to being so frightened that one is unable to move, an emotion that many survivors of sexual violence will relate to, and if a tree is petrified, it is unable to bloom and grow.

The woman is visibly pregnant and carries a baby on her back. One Rwandan survivor said, “What describes me, is the visible and invisible scars I carry, the child I conceived from rape and the incurable disease I have, all because of what happened to me during the genocide”.

The woman carries a rag, suggested by survivors from The Central African Republic, so that “she has something to lie down on when she stops running”…

There are words written within this memorial of every type of emotion.They are the result of unthinkably awful things that happened to normal women, men and children, people like you and me.

But despite the odds, there are also many words of hope. Survivors asked for sunshine for hope (it is inscribed in the baby’s papoose), She has the word HOPE etched into her heart, and although her hands are bound behind her, a dove for peace wrestles to free them while a Phoenix sits

quietly within her vines reminding her that she has the resilience to rise again out of the ashes - a symbol asked for by so many.

A lion made of patches by Kenyan for male and female survivors has been cast directly into the sculpture, because they describe feeling patched, but as brave as a lion. Initially, the memorial was only going to involve women survivors, but the more we read, the more we realised that if it was going to be a truly global memorial it must include all sexes and ages.

To see a complete list of the symbols in more detail please click HERE.

Above: The Phoenix,

Right: The Anenomie for Kosovan survivors

Below: Children’s shoes, and a lion made out of Patches

made and chosen by Kenyan surivors.

and THANK YOU

Without the support of partner organisations this memorial would would not be possible. There are no words for the admiration I have for all those who have been brave enough to share their words and to trust me with them, and for the organisations who work tirelessly to give freedom to the daemons which lurk within, through therapy and support.

A sculpture like this doesnt take shape without an incredible foundry, and I can not thank the Team at Talos Art Foundry enough. With special thanks to Emma and Andrew for their skill and support, and for keeping me level when it felt like time was not on our side. This piece was groundbreakingly technical and complicated to achieve, and was cast in over 64 pieces, which all needed working on and welding back together to make it look like it had never been apart.

I would also like to give very great thanks to Guild Bespoke Metalworks for fabricating the plinth, Mark Lovell Engineers for helping me with the structural load calculations, and Danny Broofield from JOST for so generously sponsoring the mechanism inside it which enables her to turn in any direction.

Finally, I would like to thank Lily, and the Right Hon. Jack Straw, from the bottom of my heart, who have worked on this with me throughout the project, on all of the outreach and diplomacy that this kind of project requires.

I would also like to thank my family for all their love and support during this project.

Above left: A sunflower chosen by Ukrainian survivors,

Above: It was Situated in the German Church in The Hague for 6 weeks.

Left: The Hon Jack Straw being given a tour

Below: With survivors including Nadia Murad at the unveiling in Berlin