Viral video on assault survivors reveals heroism

A protester holds a placard during a rally demanding the state government to ensure the safety of women in the capital city, outside the residence of Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dixit in New Delhi December 19, 2012. Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal

Sexual assault happens when a person forces himself or herself on another person in a physical act. The definition of sexual assault says it’s a crime of power; however, many believe that when someone’s dignity is violated when he or she is forced into a physical act, it may be more than just an act of power or a way to show off strength. Buzzfeed, through its BuzzFeedYellow YouTube channel, recently asked a few people who were physically and sexually assaulted to share their stories of survival.

The video shows how unsafe the society has become today. The featured survivors were assaulted in their school, at home and streets. Based on the clip, females aren’t the only victims and men aren’t the only harassers today. One of the male assault survivors in the video said, “I’m an assault survivor but I’m not a woman.” He continued, “As I’m a male survivor, a lot of people invalidated my experience as if what happened with me didn’t really happen.”

The victims said that when they tried to share what happened to them, other people either dismissed their experience or assumed that it was their fault.

One of the victims said she has learned that there are many people who had the same experience but never talked about it to anyone.

The video, which garnered over 460,000 views in four days since it was uploaded on Nov. 4, also got a lot of comments from viewers. One wrote, “It's so crazy to even think that these vile excuses of people could even think of doing they [the] things that they did, I'm not surprised women carry around tazers or pepper spray, or that people are apprehensive to start relations ships].” (sic) .

“I can here (sic) all the jerks screaming. ‘You should enjoy it’ that's what I hear when a man gets assaulted.... that they should just sit back and enjoy it. this world will forever dissapoint (sic) me,” another viewer wrote.

Others can also share their survivor stories with the hashtag #imasurvivor.

Watch the video below: