Founded in 2013, See the Triumph was a research-based social media campaign to dismantle the stigma surrounding domestic and sexual violence by highlighting the wisdom, strength, and stories of survivors.

Currently, we're archiving some of the resources previously available through See the Triumph here on The Source for Survivors website. See the Triumph was launched in 2013 by Christine Murray (the Founder of The Source for Survivors) and Allison Crowe, and it was based on a series of research studies involving long-term survivors of abusive relationships. See the Triumph no longer has its own social media accounts or separate website, and this page offers information and resources that were previously available through See the Triumph.

Please read on for more information about the See the Triumph campaign, and also be sure to check out The Source for Survivors "Free Store" to access the free resources developed through See the Triumph campaign, including the See the Triumph Workbooks and Facilitator Guide, Healing Arts Workshops, and Survivor Advocacy Training Program Materials.

Inspirational Quotes from Survivors of Abusive Relationships

Survivors' own words highlight the truth that they are triumphant, courageous, and resourceful. Below are just a few examples of survivors' messages that were collected through the series of research studies on which the See the Triumph campaign was based:

About the See the Triumph Campaign and Research

See the Triumph was co-founded by Christine Murray, a Professor of Counseling in the Townsend Institute for Leadership & Counseling who is also the Founder of Start Here Counseling & Consulting, PLLC, and The Source for Survivors, and Allison Crowe, who is Professor of Counselor Education at East Carolina University. Christine and Allison conducted a series of research studies to learn directly from survivors of past abuse about the stigma they experienced, other direct and indirect impacts of abuse, and the strategies they've used to strive toward overcoming the past abuse they face.

See the Triumph was intended to address all forms of intimate partner violence, including intimate partner sexual assault and emotional abuse, and we recognize that survivors come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and identities. Please note: See the Triumph and The Source for Survivors are not crisis response resources. If you need immediate assistance for a crisis-related domestic violence situation, please contact your local authorities immediately. In the United States, you may call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: http://www.thehotline.org/; 1−800−799−SAFE(7233), or TTY 1−800−787−3224. Please visit our Other Resources page for additional sources of information and support.

The Origins of See the Triumph

One of our earliest interview participants had been horrifically beaten and verbally abused by her former boyfriend and the father of her child. This woman told us how people have asked her if she is embarrassed by her history of having been abused, and here’s how she responded to that question:

•  “The only thing that bothers me about it is that other people can’t see the triumph in it. Because to me this is a treasure to be at this point in my life, in this stage, and it be beginning. Some people don’t even start to realize that they have the issues or start dealing with them until they get to this point.”

In listening to and reading the words of the survivors in our studies, time and again we heard the theme of people triumphing over their pasts and creating new, fulfilling, healthy lives and relationships. This stood so far in contrast to the prevailing stereotypes and stigma that surround domestic violence, such as that people “bring it on” themselves, that they somehow enjoy the abuse, and that people move from one violent relationship to another and never break the pattern of abuse. 

Certainly, the journey to overcoming abuse and its related stigma is not an easy one. Many of the participants in our study continued to feel that their past abuse had some negative impacts on their lives that they continued to find challenging. However, the biggest theme that came through our participants’ stories was that they had moved forward and were triumphant over the abuse they experienced in their lives.

Our goal in starting See the Triumph was to share the inspirational stories that our participants shared with us. Our wish was to show that people who have been abused do not need to live their lives defined by those experiences, but rather that they can build healthy, positive, inspiring lives and relationships.

About the Research that Informed the See the Triumph Campaign

We conducted a series of research studies with participants who had been out of abusive relationships for designated time frames (e.g., at least two years). We conducted these studies to learn how people who experienced battering victimization faced stigma associated with their abuse. In our studies with survivors, we asked participants to describe their prior abuse, how they believed they experienced stigma, the sources of stigma (e.g., professionals, friends and family), and how they overcame their abuse to build healthy, positive lives and relationships.

We used both quantitative statistical analyses and content analysis procedures to analyze the data in our studies. The findings from these studies served as the basis for the See the Triumph campaign, and we viewed the campaign as one way of disseminating our findings. In particular, we aimed to use the See the Triumph campaign to disseminate the findings to a broader audience than we can reach through traditional forms of reporting research, such as through peer-reviewed scholarly journals. Some examples of our research related to the See the Triumph can can be found in the following articles and book:

• Crowe, A., Overstreet, N., & Murray, C. E. (2021). The Intimate Partner Violence Stigma Scale: Initial Development and Validation. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36 (15-16), pp. 7456-7479. https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/E35Kh5kZApEx8ScD3k3b/full.
• Flasch, P., Fall, K., Stice, B., Easley, R., Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2019). Messages to New Survivors by Longer-Term Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Family Violence, 35, 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-019-00078-8.   
• Murray, C. E., Crowe, A., & Overstreet, N. (2018). Sources and components of stigma experienced by survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33, 515-536. DOI: 10.1177/0886260515609565
• Flasch, P. Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2017). Overcoming abuse: A phenomenological investigation of the journey to recovery from past intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32, 3373-3401. DOI: 10.1177/088626051559916
• Kelly, J., Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2017). See the Triumph Survivor Advocacy Training Program: Equipping survivors of abuse to engage in social justice advocacy. Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, 2(4), 114-123.
• King, K., Murray, C. E., Crowe, A., Hunnicutt, G., Lundgren, K., & Olson, L. (2017). The costs of recovery: Intimate partner violence survivors’ experiences of financial recovery from abuse.  The Family Journal. Online first version published May 24, 2017. http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/gQEEkwYcE4gasAnJ6vk5/full. DOI: 10.1177/1066480717710656
• Murray, C. E., Moore, K., Stickl, J., & Crowe, A. (2017). See the Triumph Healing Arts Workshops for survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 12(2), pp. 192-202. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15401383.2016.1238791
• Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2016). Counseling advocacy competencies in action: Lessons learned through the See the Triumph campaign. Journal of Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 8. Available online at http://www.psysr.org/jsacp/Murray-v8n1_53-69.pdf  
• Murray, C. E., Crowe, A., & Akers, W. (2016). How can we end the stigma surrounding domestic and sexual violence? A modified Delphi study with national advocacy leaders. Journal of Family Violence, 31(3), 271-287. DOI: 10.1007/s10896-015-9768-9.
• Murray, C. E., King, K., Crowe, A., & Flasch, P. (2015). Survivors of intimate partner violence as advocates for social change. Journal of Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 7, 84-100. Retrieved September 11, 2015, from http://www.psysr.org/jsacp/murray-v7n1-2015_84-100.pdf.
• Murray, C. E., Crowe, A., & Flasch, P. (2015). Turning points: Critical incidents in survivors’ decisions to end abusive relationships. The Family Journal, 23, 228-238. DOI: 10.1177/1066480715573705
• Murray, C. E., Crowe, A., & Brinkley, J. (2015). The stigma surrounding intimate partner violence: A cluster analysis study. Partner Abuse, 6, 320-336.
• Crowe, A., & Murray, C. E. (2015). Stigma from professional helpers toward survivors of intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 6(2), p. 157-179.
• Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2016). Overcoming the stigma of intimate partner abuse. Book published by Routledge. 

The full text of many of the articles listed above can be accessed through the NC DOCKS repository. We are also working to further integrate additional See the Triumph information and resources (e.g., updates to several past blog posts) here on The Source for Survivors website. We're thankful to all of the past content creators, contributors, research study participants, and guest bloggers who were a part of the See the Triumph Campaign!

Even More Inspirational Quotes from Survivors of Abusive Relationships

Below, for even more inspiration and encouragement, please find several more of the images with quotes from survivors who participated in the See the Triumph-related research studies. 

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