Earlier this year, 16-year-old Jada found out she had been sexually assaulted after seeing photos on the internet of her as she lay unconscious. Now, a teenager has been charged with the rape that went viral and displayed one of the darker sides of the internet.
For anyone who needs a refresher: shortly after the assault on June 1, internet trolls started taking pictures of themselves, copying her limp unconscious body post-assault using the hashtag #jadapose, and the rest of the (normal, stable-minded) online population reacted with horror. Then, Jada came forward, photographing herself holding a sign saying #IAmJada. What followed next, was hundreds of thousands of people copying her picture in solidarity with the fact that she'd taken such a brave step in identifying herself, and taking back her identity - from anonymous victim to young woman with the balls to say hey, I'm the one who got sexually assaulted. It's me. And I'm not ashamed.
'There's no point in hiding,' she said in an interview with KHOU radio shortly after the pictures were circulated. 'Everybody has already seen my face and my body, but that's not what I am and who I am.' She went on to describe how she remembers going to a party and drinking punch that she believes must have been spiked.
Clinton Onyeahialam has been charged with two counts of sexually assaulting a child, as he reportedly attacked two girls that evening - and Jada has responded to the arrests by saying she wants 'justice in full effect, and that's it'. Also, that she still gets bullied and criticised for the pictures that were doing the rounds - which goes beyond the 'kids can be so cruel' maxim, edging into the 'some kids are genuinely evil'.
'From my community, there's very little support still, such as the teenagers, but as adults, they're very supportive,' she said in a recent statement. 'And people outside of my community are very supportive. I learned that some people have hearts, and some people just go with what they hear.' So mature, and so ridiculous that she's still getting shit for something that a) she was the victim of and b) she had no control over. Imagine finding naked pictures of yourself online after a sexual assault you didn't know had happened. Who bullies someone about that?
We hope she gets justice too - and so does the internet - the hashtag #justiceforjada has now gone viral too
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.