{"id":125945,"date":"2020-01-30T10:29:54","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T10:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=125945"},"modified":"2020-01-30T10:29:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T10:29:56","slug":"why-netflixs-sex-education-sexual-assault-storyline-is-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=125945","title":{"rendered":"Why Netflix&#039;s Sex Education sexual assault storyline is SO important"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- m -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5751019935\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p> [ad_1]\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"id_text\">\n<p>What is sexual assault?<\/p>\n<p>On-screen, instances of sexual assault are depicted as major acts of physical violence &#8211; which, a lot of the time they are. However, sometimes, the damage to a victim has a much more psychological impact than physical. Sexual assault covers a range of different things, some seemingly more minor than others, but it\u2019s the impact on the victim\u2019s psyche that remains. A seemingly small incident (in terms of physicality) to an outsider, does not illustrate and reflect its psychological effects.<\/p>\n<p>Season 2 of Netflix\u2019s <i>Sex Education<\/i> demonstrates this perfectly in the form of character Aimee. Happy-go-lucky, bubbly and slightly out-of-touch Aimee experiences a milder example of sexual assault. After the incident, she brushes it off, playing the whole event down. In fact, the scene and Aimee&#8217;s reaction was inspired by one of the writers, Laurie Nunn&#8217;s own experience. Speaking to The Times, she said, \u201cWhat I found interesting is that a part of my brain was saying, \u2018Oh, don\u2019t make such a big deal about it. You are not going to ride the bus again because of that?\u2019 And yet that is what happens.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As a TV audience, we\u2019re conditioned to see acts of sexual violence on a much larger scale, so a lot of our first instinct is to play this instance down too &#8211; it\u2019s not as bad as what we\u2019re used to seeing. Perhaps it doesn\u2019t even &#8216;count&#8217; as assault? Visually and physically, it doesn\u2019t compare to the more brutal acts we\u2019ve seen on-screen. As the season goes on, however, Aimee begins to show signs of distress, going to extreme measures to avoid the bus where it happened and rejecting advances from her boyfriend. And, with no bruises or scars to note, the level of Aimee\u2019s damage eventually becomes apparent.<\/p>\n<figure itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><link href=\"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Why-Netflix039s-Sex-Education-sexual-assault-storyline-is-SO-important.jpg\" itemprop=\"url\"><\/figure>\n<p>Sexual assault affects billions worldwide and it\u2019s the media\u2019s job to educate people on what sexual assault looks like, how to respond, how to handle it and where to go to seek help. It\u2019s the film industry\u2019s job to depict the reality of what sexual assault is, in all its forms, even down to the most minor examples. If we are constantly defining assault as violent examples of rape and physical harm, we\u2019re telling victims of other forms of assault that theirs does not count. &#8220;<u>It could have been worse.&#8221;<\/u><\/p>\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 2 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5511153269\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Towards the end of the season, the female cast are given a project to discover what unites them as women, and they accidentally land on sexual assault &#8211; something they\u2019ve all experienced. Something that truly does connect us all as women. However, their examples, again, vary between physically intrusive (actually being touched) and more psychologically impactful &#8211; a violation of their innocence, their ability to feel safe and their comfort in their own bodies. This adds another air on top of the fact that sexual assault is not black and white and does not necessarily \u201clook\u201d a certain way.<\/p>\n<p>As a society, we need to address the different degrees of sexual assault, so that we allow a space for victims to feel secure in their own feelings. For many victims, the trivial nature of whether or not they have been assaulted or if an instance fits under an out-of-date mentality on sexuality, I.E &#8220;boys will be boys,&#8221; garners feelings of shame and confusion. Victims do not want to feel embarrassed for feeling violated over seemingly minor acts of assault and too many do. Often, they are not taken seriously or discarded, or even told to feel lucky that it wasn&#8217;t &#8220;as bad&#8221; as other instances. And, with no proof of physical harm, the psychological effects go completely unaddressed.<\/p>\n<figure itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"image photo\" src=\"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/1580380194_601_Why-Netflix039s-Sex-Education-sexual-assault-storyline-is-SO-important.jpg\" ><link href=\"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/1580380194_601_Why-Netflix039s-Sex-Education-sexual-assault-storyline-is-SO-important.jpg\" itemprop=\"url\"><\/figure>\n<p>At the end of the show, the same group of women all join Aimee to ride the bus, in a tearjerking show of support that&#8217;s representative of how victims should be treated, in pursuit of emotional healing. TV shows and other public examples that depict sexual assault even in its slightest form should be commended for shedding light and giving victims validation on how they feel. <i>Sex Education<\/i> is one small act that will inspire a huge amount of courage.<\/p>\n<p>Assault, whether a physical or emotional violation, is assault.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"5\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 5 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9258826580\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/culture\/8914\/why-netflixs-sex-education-sexual-assault-storyline-is-so-important\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 3 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"2884989920\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] What is sexual assault? On-screen, instances of sexual assault are depicted as major acts of physical violence &#8211; which, a lot of the time they are. However, sometimes, the damage to a victim has a much more psychological impact than physical. Sexual assault covers a range of different things, some seemingly more minor than &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125947,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125945\/revisions\/125947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/125946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}