DEAFENING SOUND - annie flanagan

An ash tray from a tourist trap in Biloxi, Mississippi.

An ash tray from a tourist trap in Biloxi, Mississippi.

$Makeup disguises Maria's fractured eye as she prepares to board a train home to Oregon from Williston, North Dakota on February 22, 2014. Maria moved to Williston less than a month prior to seek work in America's Boomtown. Since the oil boom began in 2009, instances of domestic violence have sky rocketed. A local shelter reports that prior to 2009 they were at full capacity, at most, 15 nights a year. Since 2009, they have been consistently at maximum capacity.$

Makeup disguises Maria's fractured eye as she prepares to board a train home to Oregon from Williston, North Dakota on February 22, 2014. Maria moved to Williston less than a month prior to seek work in America's Boomtown.

Since the oil boom began in 2009, instances of domestic violence have sky rocketed. A local shelter reports that prior to 2009 they were at full capacity, at most, 15 nights a year. Since 2009, they have been consistently at maximum capacity.

A child rests at their home on a summer day in Williston, North Dakota. Studies show that nearly 4 million children between the ages of 3-17 are at risk of exposure to domestic violence each year.

A child rests at their home on a summer day in Williston, North Dakota.

Studies show that nearly 4 million children between the ages of 3-17 are at risk of exposure to domestic violence each year.

“You know what’s nice?” Charlotte asked, “Being able to get in the car and go to the store...without asking.” Here, Charlotte rests in her car, outside a shelter in Williston, North Dakota on August 26, 2013. Charlotte moved to Williston that winter to seek work with her ex-boyfriend. After he held an unloaded gun to her head and stranded her in a parking lot with only their Ford Bronco, she began staying in her car until she found respite at the local shelter.

“You know what’s nice?” Charlotte asked, “Being able to get in the car and go to the store...without asking.”

Here, Charlotte rests in her car, outside a shelter in Williston, North Dakota on August 26, 2013. Charlotte moved to Williston that winter to seek work with her ex-boyfriend. After he held an unloaded gun to her head and stranded her in a parking lot with only their Ford Bronco, she began staying in her car until she found respite at the local shelter.

A child has a tantrum on the Fourth of July in 2013. Studies show that nearly 4 million children between the ages of 3-17 are at risk of exposure to domestic violence each year.

A child has a tantrum on the Fourth of July in 2013.

Studies show that nearly 4 million children between the ages of 3-17 are at risk of exposure to domestic violence each year.

A sheet listing the types of abuse you can experience during in an domestic violent relationship. With this particular sheet an anonymous woman circled the types of abuse and control she experienced during her abusive relationship.

The shelters asks that women circle the experiences that apply to them, often highlighting the magnitude of their violent domestic relationship. Often times the women do this alone, as the purpose of this is to help the women understand the gravity of their situation.

On average, women leave seven times before permanently leaving.

A self portrait I made in the midst of a panic attack. Since I was first raped in college, I began experiencing panic attacks. Photography has been my primary method of healing.

Rape is the most common violent crime on college campuses. According to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, 1 in 4 college women will be the victim of sexual assault during her academic career.

“Should I have shot him? Tell me. What would have happened if I had shot him?” Laura Miller asked the police officer who was filing a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend.

Laura's ex, Percy, got out of jail in July because it was too far for New Orleans to come and pick him up on the two charges for which he is wanted. At the time of the photograph, is was wanted for violation of his no contact order and the domestic violence chargers. He initially moved to Williston to escape the charges in New Orleans.

A daughter is bathed by her mother while living in the crisis shelter. Days after her mother left her abusive boyfriend, she was fired from her job because she "let her personal life get in the way of her work."

Maria eats dinner at the crisis shelter after she visited the hospital regarding her injuries sustained during a fight with her ex-boyfriend.

On average, women leave seven times before permanently leaving.

Charlotte days after she left her abusive boyfriend in August of 2015 in Williston, North Dakota. Her boyfriend stabbed her in the left, and she came to consciousness hiding under a truck. Charlotte first checked into the shelter in 2013, after she left a different abusive boyfriend.

Nekqua watches the Lifetime Movie Network while resting after school. Two months later Nekqua was raped, in her bedroom, by her ex-boyfriend.

“I just [got] on the swings, feel like I’m flying, like I’m going somewhere. I’m really not going anywhere. I just feel like I’m going somewhere,” Nekqua said, recalling riding the swings after she was assaulted.

Nekqua and her best friend Brittney, then 16, talk on and text while Brittney's son Jayce sleeps. Jacye is Nekqua's god son.

"I get these rages where I just want nothing around me, no one around me. I just get really frustrated," Nekqua said of her ex-boyfriend, "Ive had nightmares. [They] started like last month because, it's April and he's supposed to be coming home in April."

Nekqua rests after work at her apartment with her twin, Shy. After graduating from a school with one of the lowest graduation rates in New York, she attended community college for two years. This year her financial aid did not go through, so she is unable to go back because she cannot afford to pay the fines or pay for college out of pocket.

An empty heart is tattooed on Brittney's back.

Nekqua, Syracuse, NY, 2016.

Hannah in my backyard after a hurricane, 2003.

Hannah smoking in a hotel room the summer she started dating her abusive boyfriend, Mike. This is one of the last portraits I made of Hannah before we were estranged for two years.

A excerpt from Hannah's journal, listing the pros and cons of staying alive after her five hear abusive relationship.

This is one of the first pictures I made of my best friend Hannah after we reconnected in 2009. For two years we had no contact because Hannah was in an abusive relationship and neither of us knew how to handle it. After Hannah left her abuser, she suffered sever PTSD and began pulling out all of the hair on her body including her eyebrows, eyelashes and all of the hair on her head.

Hannah and Joe sleeping before Hannah's doctor appointment . This was the 10th different doctor she saw in attempt to try to understand why she was loosing all of the hair on her body.

After she left her abuser she suffered from extreme PTSD and began pulling out all of the hair on her body. None of the doctors she visited were able to help her through her PTSD.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 7 out of 10 psychologically abused women display symptoms of PTSD.

Hannah taking a selfie, 2012.

Hannah in her bedroom, 2012.

Rural areas have specific challenges regarding accessing support in cases of intimate partner violence. These challenges include high poverty, lower rates of health insurance coverage, and less access to healthcare and human services providers.

Here, Helen answers calls, while another advocate takes care of a child while at work at a crisis center in rural Montana. Helen was Shirley's advocate and would consistently check in on her and drive her to most of her doctor appointments. Some appointments were over 4 hours away.

Shirley, 68, at her home in Sidney, Montana.

During the course of her four-year relationship, Shirley was severely strangled twice by her then-boyfriend.

In the last six months she has lost over 30 pounds. Over the course of the last two years, she has lost the ability to speak or swallow, as a result she cannot consume water and constantly drools.

Shirley’s door, and the precautions she has taken to ensure her ex would not enter. While they were living together, her ex brought her to her family’s plot in the town graveyard, threatened her with a machete, and pulled her feet out from under her. She fell back onto her sister’s grave. He told her that she would soon wind up there.

Shirley was found dead outside her home less than two months after this image was made. The cause of her death is unknown.

Unable to speak or swallow, Shirley communicated only through writing notes and gesturing yes or no.

Here, a note she wrote detailing her feelings and experiences with her abusive ex-boyfriend.

Shirley wacthes televsion, waiting for the reception to kick in. In the last months of her life, had trouble leaving her home because she feared for her safety in public.

Jessica, outside of the crisis shelter, moments before boarding a bus home to Minnesota.

annie flanagan

Annie is a freelance photographer, filmmaker and editor based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their work focuses on issues surrounding gender, sexuality, identity and trauma in the United States. Annie is currently completing their graduate thesis project for The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication.

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