Emily Atack to host new documentary about online sexual harassment after being targeted herself
She shares that she was approached "from a very young age."
She shares that she was approached "from a very young age."
Emily Atack has today shared that she'll be fronting a new documentary focusing on online sexual harassment.
Trigger warning: discusses themes of sexual harassment
The 32-year-old actress is best known for playing Charlotte Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners but has spoken openly about her own experiences of online sexual assault in the past.
She'll be presenting the BBC Two documentary - called Emily Atack: Sexual Harassment & Me - which aims to shed light on the still-sometimes-taboo topic.
Sharing her own experiences, she'll cover having to call 999 after receiving multiple rape threats and even attempt to contact the men who sent her explicit and inappropriate content on social media.
On the new programme, she said: "With this documentary, I am hoping to find answers to the many questions I’ve been asking myself my entire life, and I hope it will go on to help thousands of others too."
Atack has long been campaigning for more awareness around online sexual harassment - in February, she spoke to UK parliament about how damaging cyber flashing - that is, sending unsolicited explicit pictures on social media - can be.
Just a month later, the government made cyber flashing an official criminal offence in the UK. Perpetrators now face up to two years in jail.
In the documentary, Atack will not only share her own experiences, but question whether the law change has actually stopped perpetrators from sharing explicit pictures.
She'll also talk to top psychologists about why, exactly, people feel inclined to share sexually explicit content with people they don't know.
Speaking about the programme, she described the subject matter as "so incredibly close to my heart."
She explained: "Over the last two and a half years I’ve been speaking out about my own personal experiences of online sexual harassment."
"Within that time, one thing has become clear, I’m not alone."
"With this documentary, I am hoping to find answers to the many questions I’ve been asking myself my entire life, and I hope it will go on to help thousands of others too."
Well done to Atack for continuing to campaign on such an important issue.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the topics of this article, know this - you are not alone and help is out there. Rape Crisis are on hand to help at rapecrisis.org.uk.
