On Rape: and Institutional Failure. Laia Abril

Laia Abril’s ‘On Rape’ is a visualisation of the origin of gender-based stereotypes and myths, as well as the failing structures of law and order, that continue to perpetuate rape culture. Abril collates and interweaves compiled testimonies, political proclamations, historical archives, popular and traditional beliefs, as well as society’s structural failures to deal with sexual violence. To avoid feeding the systemic victim-blaming society, Abril switches the visual narrative from the survivors to the institutions, allowing her opportunity to address transgenerational trauma and social accountability. On Rape is the second chapter of Laia Abril’s long-term project ‘A History of Misogyny’, a visual research through historical and contemporary comparisons of the systemic control of women in the world.