Exploring Life After Sexual Violence as a Rhizomatic Narrative

Exploring Life After Sexual Violence as a Rhizomatic Narrative

by Angelique Pearl Virtue P Villasanta, PhD in Clinical Psychology Candidate

ABSTRACT:
Despite the recognition that healing after sexual violence is a non-linear process, this non-linearity is yet to be explored beyond stage-based and thematic conceptualizations that characterize dominant healing literature. This paper sought to explore life after sexual violence in its non-linearity by applying Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) rhizomatic approach to narratives. Through the lens of the rhizome, this research explores life after sexual violence as a process of becoming (vs an orientation to beginning points and end points), as having a material-affective layer (to push it as “beyond talk”), and as a monstrous story (to suspend expectations of coherence and linearity). Results of this study are based on the rhizomatic narratives of eight Filipino women between the ages of 26 to 38, who have experienced forced, manipulated, or unwanted sexual activity without consent. The data was analyzed through the researcher’s engagement with the following processes: a) honoring the stories, b) exploring the rhizomatic narratives, c) mapping the rhizomatic narratives, d) following lines of becoming, and e) presenting the analysis. After walking through selected rhizomatic maps, results unpack three dynamics of movements: a) sexual violence as a molar line of capture that women grapple with, b) irrupting into critical lines of flight and passing through thresholds that shift everything, and c) groundedness in spaces, objects, practices, and relations that anchor healing. Insights gained from this research were discussed vis-à-vis implications on sexual violence and
healing literature, the practice of clinical and counseling psychology, and rhizomatic map-making and research.

11:00am, Friday, April 25, 2025

Adviser:

Mira Alexis P Ofreneo, PhD

Panelists:

Mendiola T Calleja, PhD

Karina Therese G Fernandez, PhD

Josephine P Perez, PhD

Christopher Franz A Carandang, PhD

Keywords: sexual violence, healing, rhizome, narrative, Deleuze