Lady Gaga’s performance of the Oscar-nominated song “‘Til It Happens to You” was a breathtakingly powerful performance that left many of us in tears.
The song came from the documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which was filmed and written by two survivors of sexual assaults on college campuses. The documentary focuses on the alarmingly high rate of rape and sexual assault on college campuses across the country that leave female students devastated and result in little, if any, consequences for their perpetrators. In the documentary, the song “‘Til It Happens to You” has a deep and emotional impact overlaying the stories from hundreds of young women that sound too similar to be ignored.
Onstage, the song was even more powerful. Gaga was excellent, but the real power of the performance was the massive group of sexual assault survivors, both men and women, who joined the singer onstage in a show of solidarity. Written on each of their arms were statements like “Not Your Fault,” “Survivor,” and “It Happened to Me.”
While we would all love to pretend that these were the first sexual assault survivors to appear on the Oscar stage, that is not truly a possibility. 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men experience sexual assault in their lifetimes, which means that of the thousands and thousands of people who have ever stood on an Oscar stage, a significant percentage of those people have surely experienced sexual assault at some point. It was, however, a show of openness and standing together to raise awareness about the issue, and that was surely an Oscar first.
An even higher rate of assault happens on college campuses. It is estimate that 1 in 4 women, or 25%, will experience some form of sexual assault – from inappropriate and unsolicited touching to completed rape – while in college. A full 13.5% reported experiencing unwanted penetration, which is classified as rape by law.
Vice President Joe Biden introduced the performance and called for viewers to take the pledge to help end rape and sexual assault at itsonus.org. Please take the pledge by clicking on the link and vow to report, intervene, and help end an epidemic that has gone on for far too long.
See the powerful performance below and see a trailer for “The Hunting Ground,” which premieres on Netflix on March 14, 2016, at the bottom of this article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZccLZ3qBYyE
Featured image via YouTube
