Lady Gaga made an emotional performance at the Oscars 2016. While performing Oscar nominated song, "Till It Happens To You," she was joined by 50 sexual assault survivors wherein they exposed their arms with words "Not Your Fault," "Survivor," and "It Happened to Me."
Fans and spectators wondered on who the sexual assault survivors were, as they were inspired by their boldness to take a stand. Most of the sexual assault survivors appeared on CNN's documentary film, "The Hunting Ground," which tackles sexual assault in college campuses all throughout the United States. Huffington Post was able to get a glimpse on who the brave sexual assault survivors were.
Zerlina Maxwell
Maxwell made the headlines the moment she stood up as a sexual assault survivor. During her appearance on Sean Hannity's show in Fox News, she stood her ground in stating that arming women to defend their selves from sexual assault is not the solution. Instead, Maxwell stated that educating men not to rape is the solution.
Kamilah Willingham
Good luck to @Diane_Warren and @ladygaga tonight at the Oscars! ❤️ #tillithappenstoyou pic.twitter.com/tSuU0o9Lal
— Kamilah Willingham (@kamily) February 28, 2016
Willingham was a sexual assault victim from Harvard Law school, wherein her story on "The Haunting Ground" were slammed by several critics. According to Jezebel, Kamilah Willingham's story was "unfairly attacked" by the documentary, wherein several Harvard Law professors took a stand in defending the attacker, Brandon Wilson stating that he didn't force Willingham as what the documentary claimed.
Kevin Kantor
Kevin Kantor is a renowned slam poet who shook the world with his beautifully written poem about sexual assault. His piece discussed his sentiments the moment his rapist appeared on his Facebook feed under "People You May Know."
Kantor empowered male sexual assault victims to speak up and make a stand. One of the lines that shook the male sexual assault victims was "No one comes running for boys who cry rape."
Nastassja Schmiedt and Lea Roth
So incredibly thankful for the amazing opportunity to meet @vp Joe Biden tonight with my fiancée @a_learoth at the #Oscars tonight because of our performance with @ladygaga. #itsonus This is such a huge night for our cause, and I am incredibly honored to come out and represent survivors. Also Joe Biden is holding our new book Millennial Sex Education which is changing the conversation about consent, pleasure and sex education. Follow along through @timetospringup A photo posted by Nastassja Schmiedt (@nastassjameetsworld) on Feb 28, 2016 at 11:16pm PST
Both Schmiedt and Roth were both sexual assault victims from Dartmouth College. The duo decided to take a stand against sexual assault by starting an activist group, "Spring Up." Aside from the group they started, they also wrote a book entitled "Millennial Sex Education."
