Survivor stories and awareness campaigns are essential tools for promoting social change, raising awareness, and inspiring empathy. By sharing their experiences, survivors can humanize complex issues, break the silence and stigma, and inspire others to take action. While awareness campaigns face challenges and limitations, they can have a significant impact when done effectively.

The awareness industry has a dark history of "trauma porn"—extracting graphic details of a survivor’s worst moment to solicit donations, without offering long-term support. This re-traumatizes the storyteller and commodifies their pain.