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What It's Like to Be Cyberbullied As a Sexual Assault Survivor

Watch sexual assault survivors from the Netflix documentary 'Audrie & Daisy' share their stories of cyberbullying.

Released on 04/17/2017

Transcript

[Girl] Liar.

[Girl] Slampiece.

[Girl] Slut.

[Girl] Bros before hoes.

Shut up.

We're gonna get you too.

[Girl] Be quiet.

Why were you out?

[Girl] Who, why, when?

[Girl] What was she expecting to happen?

[Girl] Basically what did you do to have this happen?

After I was raped I just assumed that

I had to have been someone that just

deserved something like that.

(eerie music)

I feel like victim blaming is so prevalent

in our society because people find it

so hard to believe that someone that they

love and care about could do something

so awful as assaulting or raping someone.

People start with questioning the victim

rather than telling them that they believe them

and that they support them.

It always starts with what they had to do

and how they partook in the assault.

I wish people would have asked me my story.

It's much easier for them to blame the girl

that's saying, Hey this guy did something wrong to me.

Very common misconception is that

there has to be all these right answers for a survivor.

Women often times are expected to

watch their drinks, don't set them down.

All these little underlying things

that people use as exceptions for rape.

Watch what you're wearing, watch where you go

and if you don't, then it's your fault

that you were assaulted or raped,

which isn't true at all.

The Jada pose hashtag that was created

was when the guy who posted the pictures

of the assault on the internet

made a pose mimicking the stance that I was laying in,

tagged me in it and it went viral.

It really kind of bothered me

when I heard that there was a video

and that people were talking about it

because I felt like you don't get a say

in what the world sees of you.

So I felt really alone.

There were lots of posts about me.

Why would you lie about this, this is not true,

stuff like that.

And when it's cyber-bullying instead of face to face,

there's no escaping it.

Everyone's on the internet.

Our generation, all we do is social media, social media, so.

Their friends starting making comments about it,

friends of the family started making comments about it.

Random people that I didn't know

who would just re-tweet it and make it

bigger than what it was.

And I felt like I couldn't go out in public

or else people would be talking about me

and I felt like I couldn't just be myself anymore.

They'd pop up on the screen and I would read them

and I'd spiral into this deep rage

and self harm and destruction.

I had to delete all my accounts so I could defend myself.

They were just deciding off the bat

who I was based off of all these rumors

and so that was a lot of damage to

my own self esteem because I felt like

I wasn't worth getting to know.

Now that more people are coming forward,

more people are noticing that this has been a problem

and that we can't just keep fighting each other,

we have to come together and work on this.

At one point I just realized that anyone that

is saying those things over social media,

it is their issues not yours.

(dramatic drum rock music)

That's when I decided to make hashtag I am Jada.

To rise above it and just stay strong to who you are

and know that.

This is who I am.

You're okay and that it is going to be okay.

I want anyone who's experienced sexual assault

to know that it's not your fault and you're not alone.

We're here and we believe you and we support you.

My name is Jada Smith.

My name is Ella Fairon.

My name is Daisy Coleman

and this isn't the end.

(drum rock music)

Featuring: Daisy Coleman, Ella Faron, Jada Smith Special Thanks to Safebae & Futures Without Violence