About Points With Purpose

David Ilan has been drawing using only dots for many years. Points with Purpose is his first drawing where each dot represents a real person. Every person who signs up (for free) gets one dot in the portrait in their honor. One question that people seem to be asking David a lot is: Why do a project about rape and sexual abuse?

David has a personal connection to this topic because two people close to him have been raped. He will not share their stories because he believes they are not his to share but he can share the stories from his perspective. He saw how his two friends were affected by their experiences and how their worlds were turned upside-down. Rape and sexual abuse can destroy lives for many years to come.

David chose to do this drawing because for some reason the public doesn't like to face the topic of rape and sexual abuse. Almost always, the media refuses to cover this topic unless it is about a specific case that can help with their ratings. Because of this we have millions of survivors who feel like they should be ashamed of what happened to them. Even worse, without the proper support from society, survivors are left to feel alone.

David's aim is to bring survivors of rape and sexual abuse together. For the portrait of the survivor to be finished, real survivors will have to come together and take a stand. Even if participants choose to remain anonymous, they are still standing up and being counted. When survivors share their experiences and see how many others have gone through similar experiences, they feel less alone. When survivors see that others are handling life after their rape or sexual abuse in a similar way, they will know their own reaction is normal.

A brave woman did an interview with David for a national radio show in Israel. She said something that David will never forget. She said if someone was to break into her car and steal her radio, she will tell everyone she knows about it. When someone broke into her life and stole her soul, she told no one. We are happy that she was eventually able to not feel ashamed. Her interview was important and we are sure it helped many people who heard it. We hope that in a small way Points With Purpose will help change how society views survivors of rape and sexual abuse. There are so many emotions a person goes through after this devastating experience. Shame should not be one of those emotions.

Points With Purpose is a project of Drawing Hope International (www.drawinghope.org), David's charitable organization.