Everyone else sort of exists at the periphery, and even while the lives of these women are interrupted by male violence and state violence, I was most interested in how they sought agency, and in the bonds forged between them. I didn’t want to paint these women as solely “strong” or “resilient” in the face of this violence, but to show the real breaks in relationships and self that can occur as a result. We place a greater burden on women (and queer people) to “survive” than on men to stop trying to kill us, and sometimes survival comes at a cost.