NOT CHILD’S PLAY
Healing From And Ending Sibling Sexual Abuse
What Is Not Child’s Play?
Not Child’s Play serves to amplify and honor the experiences of sibling sexual abuse survivors, while fostering conversation, accountability, and compassion among families, perpetrators, and bystanders. This compelling and brave book and website extends an invitation to readers and visitors to witness and actively engage in addressing these issues. The book serves as a lifeline to survivors who have been living in silence and isolation. The courageous voices in its pages encourage us all to create a world where sibling sexual abuse is acknowledged and dismantled, where further harm is prevented, and where survivors can reclaim what was stolen from them. Our aim is to eradicate the cycles of shame and secrecy which otherwise silence survivors, conceal their narratives, and perpetuate the cycle of abuse.
“Not Child’s Play is a lifeline for survivors. By sharing the truths of their lives, these 35 courageous women are helping to erase ignorance and transform denial into acknowledgement and action.”
Lucy Tatman, PhD
Mission & Vision
Our mission is to ignite an awakening of the devastating effects of sexual abuse and sibling sexual abuse by amplifying survivors’ voices, collaborating with communities – especially youth – on consent and accountability, and educating survivors on the transformative experience of disclosure.
Our vision is a world where survivors of sexual abuse are heard, believed, and supported — where silence no longer dominates, and where speaking truth is honored as courageous, not denigrated as shame. A future where sibling sexual abuse is no longer hidden, where communities practice consent and accountability, and where abuse disclosure is encouraged as a catalyst for healing.
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in the U.S. experience sexual abuse before age 18.
Source: CDC 2022
Featured In
Survivors are heroes, too.
Each handcrafted doll is a symbol of survival, strength, and the power of breaking silence—created by survivors to reclaim their stories and inspire healing.
About Risa Shaw, Ph.D.
Dr. Risa Shaw is a revolutionary author, educator, and outspoken advocate who has spent over four decades confronting the silence and stigma around sibling sexual abuse (SSA)—a trauma she personally survived. With the groundbreaking release of Not Child’s Play: An Anthology on Brother-Sister Incest in 2000, and its second edition in 2023, Dr. Shaw became one of the first in the U.S. to center SSA survivors and amplify their stories. Her work spans education, activism, and research, including her time as a professor at Gallaudet University, where she mentored students, challenged institutional oppression, and explored how survivor disclosures are often met with retraumatizing denial rather than support.
Her creative expression is deeply tied to healing and justice. From organizing actions against patriarchy, racism, ableism, and anti-LGBTQ+ efforts to creating the Incest Survivor Action Figures—a bold artistic project reclaiming childhood power—Dr. Shaw has continually pushed boundaries in pursuit of truth and liberation. Today, she collaborates with young people on consent and boundaries, helping usher in a new generation of survivor-led change.