This powerful video salutes sexual violence survivors who told their stories in 2017
A new video from The Representation Project is highlighting the courageous people who told their stories of sexual harassment, assault and rape these past few weeks.
The video, titled “2017: Silent No Longer,” is part of the social justice organization’s annual end-of-year video roundups, which usually highlight the damaging effects of gender stereotypes. This year, however, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, founder and CEO of The Representation Project, decided to pay homage to the survivors who spoke out this year.
“For too long, victims like myself have been forced to stay silent, swallowing our trauma in shame or fear of retaliation,” Newsom said in a press release.
The short video features clips of celebrities such as Ashley Judd (who helped break the Harvey Weinstein story), Terry Crews (who discussed being a male sexual assault survivor), and Aly Raisman (who said she was sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar). Also featured in the video are less well-known survivors, such as Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, and accusers of actor Kevin Spacey and Senate candidate Roy Moore.
“Thanks to everyday people speaking out en masse, high-profile survivors like Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan leading the way, and courageous reporting bringing truth to light, 2017 was the year we finally changed this equation,” Newsom said. “Open secrets came out. We flocked to support survivors. And untouchable, serial predators like Matt Lauer, Bill O’Reilly, Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner, Louis C.K., Bryan Singer, Kevin Spacey, and more finally faced consequences for their actions.”