Story highlights Benedicte Kurzen photographed rape survivors in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Kurzen's portraits allow each woman to define herself as separate from her assault

(CNN) Gisele stands behind a tall plant with vibrant pink flowers. Her face is hidden, her hands are raised toward the sky. Marie sits in a riverbed while her white dress floats in the water. You can see the goosebumps on her skin. Viviane lies in a patch of sun with a journal resting on her face.

Each portrait exhibits a quiet beauty. They're intimate and serene. But the elements that make up these portraits are derived from a dark source: Each woman lived through sexual assault.

Photojournalist Benedicte Kurzen traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to document the largely unseen crisis of sexual assault in the country. While working in Nigeria, Kurzen went to a camp where a woman had just been freed after eight months in Boko Haram captivity. The woman was heavily traumatized and Kurzen chose not to take pictures, but she knew it was an issue she wanted to explore. Soon after, an opportunity arose with the nonprofit group Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, to work with rape survivors in Haiti.

Photographer Benedicte Kurzen

"This work is the result in collaboration with MSF," Kurzen said. "They were very helpful. They identified women and young girls who had been raped a year ago. It wasn't fresh. It was important not to victimize them a second time."

The earthquake in 2010 displaced 1.5 million people who were forced to move into post-quake camps that offer little safety. As of March 2015, more than 60,000 people still live in these camps. These precarious living conditions and lack of protections leave women and children especially vulnerable to sexual assault.

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