*Last year, in a piece for the Los Angeles Times, Gabrielle Union revealed that she was raped at gunpoint more than two decades ago. The “Being Mary Jane” star wrote the essay in response to the rape allegations against her “The Birth of a Nation” co-star Nate Parker that had resurfaced.
With Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse and rape allegations dominating the current news cycle, Union took to Twitter with her thoughts on a number of issues within the controversy, including those who criticize victims for choosing to stay silent.
“Sexual violence & harassment can happen to anyone at any time anywhere,” Union began. “Ppl remain silent 4 many different very personal reasons. Judgment, victim shaming/blaming, loss of job/$, fear of violence, retaliation.”
Union then addressed those who accuse victims of inviting harassment by dressing inappropriately, which intensified after Donna Karan initially suggested women might be “asking for it” and Mayim Bialik wrote a controversial op-ed in the New York Times that indicated being “average-looking” helped her avoid the predatory behavior of men in Hollywood like Weinstein. Addressing that view, Union tweeted, “I got raped at work at a Payless shoe store. I had on a long tunic & leggings so miss me w/ ‘dress modestly’ s—.”
Some time later, Union clapped back at detractors on social media by retweeting a reaction from the Black Girl Nerds Twitter account: “These men in [Gabrielle Union’s] mentions right now trying to justify rape is absolutely disgusting.”
View Union’s entire Twitter thread below:
Real grown up shit. We all need this reminder when we talk abt our personal evolution. We must be accountable 4 ALL our shit past & present https://t.co/DvFv96ftyL
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Sexual violence & harassment can happen to anyone at anytime anywhere.
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Ppl remain silent 4 many different very personal reasons. Judgment, victim shaming/blaming, loss of job/$, fear of violence, retaliation
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Folks are also very open and obvious about what kind of victim should be prioritized & believed. To think otherwise is to be willfully dim
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
In Hollywood meetings in homes, hotel lobbies/restaurants/suites, private isolated office space is the norm. NO ONE “ASKED FOR IT!!”
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Sexual or physical violence, harassment, demeaning language is NOT the price one should pay for seeking or maintaining employment. Period
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Reminder. I got raped at work at a Payless shoe store. I had on a long tunic & leggings so miss me w/ “dress modestly” shit.
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Though I was raped by a stranger who raped me at gunpoint after robbing the store, I was still asked by a female “friend” what I had worn
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
Look around, u can EASILY see whose pain is “real/valid” & must be addressed & whose pain is tolerable, unimportant & systematically ignored
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
These men in @itsgabrielleu mentions right now trying to justify rape is absolutely disgusting.
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) October 15, 2017
When ppl ask why I chose to write about my rape in my book or why I continue to speak about sexual violence…this right here. https://t.co/2BaO3gNj7D
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2017
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