Telling her story. Jemima Kirke is sharing her own experience with sexual assault, tweeting that she is “hugely grateful” to Christine Blasey Ford for stepping forward to share her account of being sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
In a tweet, the 33-year-old Maniac actress posted a note in which she describes being raped by her drug dealer at age 22.
“After I kindly asked [the dealer] to leave (I didn’t want to make him angry) I dragged myself to the hospital,” she explained. “After the various std tests The doctor said sympathetically, ‘you gotta start looking after yourself.’ I believed what he meant was, ‘This could have been prevented if you weren’t hanging out with a drug dealer.’”
Kirke elaborated on the victim-blaming. “It would seem that the responsibility was on me and for this reason I didn’t tell anyone and I didn’t report it,” she wrote. “I was ashamed because I believed that what had happened to me was a result of having very little self worth, that this was what happens to drug addicts. This is wrong.”
And that doctor wasn’t the only one who shamed Kirke, she explained: “My rape had nothing to do with my choices. Drug dealers don’t rape people any more than a family man does. The rehab counselors didn’t correct that belief. My own mother didn’t correct it. f—k anyone who meant well but told me to look at this ‘as a sign’ that I needed help.”
The Girls alum concluded with a grim prognostication for her 7-year-old, Rafaella. “It is likely that my daughter will one day be sexually assaulted,” she wrote. “I can’t prevent that. She can’t prevent that. But no matter whAt the circumstances, it won’t be her fault.”
In the comments to the post, a Twitter user asked Kirke, “What exactly about this is brave?”
“Who said I was being brave?” the actress replied. “I don’t think anyone is trying to be self congratulatory here … Being ‘brave’ really isn’t the point. For me, it’s an effort to be supportive and to lead the younger generation by example in hopes that they won’t accept rape as anything but a crime against them.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing and recovering, and more.
