Sexual assault seems like a problem that everyone would agree we need to do something about. It’s become increasingly clear, however, that not everyone thinks sexual assault is a problem, or that it’s really occurring. Honestly, that is sickening. Before any social situation can be remedied, awareness needs to be culminated. Though there have been many things done to raise awareness, there is more that can be done. Recently, David Schwimmer, who we all know from his days as Ross on Friends, produced a set of videos depicting scenarios of sexual assault.
Note: I know that the term victim is something sexual assault advocates are trying to avoid; however, I was unsure what an acceptable alternate term would be.
Content Warning: This post contains graphic content.
One thing I really liked about these videos was that they all started out as completely acceptable human interactions. Some instances of sexual assault are clearly definable as assault, such as rape, whereas others are less clear. This set of six videos did a great job at depicting the reality of sexual assault: that it has varying degrees, but if it’s an unwanted touch or unwanted sexual tone it is assault.
On the site with the videos, lots of people commented that they had experienced something similar. All of the videos were based on a real occurrence, but it was interesting to see how so many women resonated with these, as they had similar experiences. Though ideally no one would ever have to deal with sexual assault, I hope people who have seen these videos will be better able to identify if they are victims of assault, and therefore what actions can/should be taken after that.
Something that has been turning over in my mind a lot since I watched this series was the women’s reactions. Several of the males in the series made attempts to apologize for what they had done, though for the viewer it was clear they didn’t feel sorry for their actions. The women in those situations often responded along the lines of “no, it’s okay” even though they were visibly uncomfortable. At first, I was surprised that this response was so common. I wondered why the women would say that and I was a little disappointed that they didn’t model different behavior. But then I imagined what might have happened if they stood up for themselves. The situation would likely have been prolonged; responding that it was okay usually ended the interaction. In a situation where they didn’t have much control, it might be scary to take more control in a situation that was really unsettling.
There were only a few things I was disappointed in with this video series. However, their overall impact was incredibly powerful, outweighing the minor disappointments. In all six scenarios the assailant was a male and the victim was a female. A common misconception is that men do not experience sexual assault, which is very untrue. More females experience assault, but men have and do experience assault as well. Some critics commented that the videos fell short by not depicting any scenarios of sexual assault in a couple. Statistically, it has been found that sexual assault happens more commonly in relationships, which isn’t accurately represented in the videos. Though the series does not include that, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Each scenario focused on sexual assault in a professional-type environment. I liked that aspect a lot for showing the unique power dynamics in a workplace or doctor’s office that don’t often occur anywhere else. It educates about instances of sexual assault that are often unclear to victims if it was sexual assault, or if it was just an awkward situation. There are two other videos not specifically linked to in this article, but you can get to them through any of the provided video links.
Art can be a massively powerful tool to show emotion in a way that can provoke change. Below is an image that I found to be a really powerful depiction of the artists thoughts. Created by finger-painting a life-size photo, the different colors represent touches from different people. In many places, the colors overlap, but even in this messy art form, there is still a visual differentiation between touches the artist was okay with and those she was not.