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AnnaLynne McCord spoke out about her own sexual assault at a benefit for the Somaly Mam Foundation, which fights global sex trafficking. | Source: WENN
AnnaLynne McCord is amazing on 90210, but she’s more amazing in real life. The curly-topped beauty recently opened up about her own sexual assault and her part in fighting sex slavery worldwide with the Somaly Mam Foundation.
It’s a cause so close to AnnaLynne’s heart that she actually skips out on Christmas to volunteer her time across the planet. The foundation, founded by–you guessed it–Somaly Mam, is a charity that seeks to end sex trafficking around the globe by empowering survivors and informing the world about the horrors of human trafficking. “I go to Cambodia every single Christmas now because in this industry, we get two weeks off around Christmas and New Year’s,” she said. “My production staff are amazing–they know to get AnnaLynne out so that she can be on a plane. So this year they will be rushing to get everything done so I can get my ‘red eye flight’ to Cambodia. I will be jet lagged when I get back for the first two weeks and my acting will suck, but it is what totally makes me happy.”
AnnaLynne was brave enough to speak out about her own sexual assault, and she did it in a really relatable and strong way: She wasn’t a victim, she was a survivor–and she was also a testimonial that sexual assault can happen to anyone at any time, and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It doesn’t mean that you put yourself in a bad situation, or that you’re weak.
It takes a lot of strength to report a sexual assault to begin with, but to address it to a room chock full of strangers is ridiculously freakin’ brave. And that’s just what AnnaLynne did, telling the crowd at the Life is Love event in L.A., “Has anyone ever been raped? Sexually abused? Not said ‘no‘ when you felt you didn’t have the right to? I know what it feels like.”
AnnaLynne explained, “I had a very similar experience to what these girls go through 20 times a night. It happened to me once by somebody that I knew, and it is a very interesting thing to feel that you do not have the voice to say ‘no.’ It wasn’t an attack or anything like that,” she added. “I just had no voice. I did not know how to say, ‘I don’t want this. Please do not do this to me.’”
Now, going through something like that is traumatizing enough just once–but 20 times a night? Can you even imagine? AnnaLynne gave more details about how her assault went down, making it an even more realistic scenario that a lot more women and girls have likely found themselves in than people realize. “It was a situation where I found myself in my own home being hospitable, and that hospitality was taken advantage of at an extreme level,” AnnaLynne explained. “I did not have a voice, and now I do, and I’m practicing using my voice for others. Finally I can say I was taken advantage of–not from my own shame that I did something to deserve that–and now I can have a clear conscience.”
She makes such an important point: No one deserves to be sexually assaulted, and if you are, it is not your fault. Here’s hoping she gives more girls the strength to speak up and stay strong.
Have you ever been sexually assaulted? Have you heard about sex trafficking? Do you think AnnaLynne McCord is doing something awesome? Have you ever been scared to speak up in an uncomfortable situation? Sound off in the comments!
And yet another reason to adore AnnaLynne McCord: She’s real!
I also know how it feels to be used.
I was watching a movie with my friend’s half brother, and he started to trail his hand up my thigh. At first, I wasn’t worried because I still felt safe (We had feelings for each other at that time). However, when his hand moved from on my leg to between my legs, I started to get uncomfortable and pushed his hand away. He pulled away fro a little while, but then did the same thing. When I pushed his hand away, he just came back. I was starting to get very worried, because he wasn’t listening to my nonverbal “no”.
Later on, he was behind me, kissing my neck, and his hands were on my chest. I didn’t want that, but I knew that if I moved his hands off my breasts, he would try my waistband again.
I was very, very scared for that whole evening. He was football player, and had the stereotypical body of one: huge and very strong. I knew that if he really wanted to, he could force me into anything, I wouldn’t be able to stop him. We were alone in my grandparent’s very soundproof basement, and they were all the way up in the attic, completely out of scream-range.
He could have done anything he wanted to me. He could have had sex with me. He could have hurt me more than anything else in the world. If I had said no outright, he would have brushed that off.
I am shaking right now, just remembering that happening to me. It haunts me. I can still hear the credits rolling across the screen as his hands are on me, and his mouth kissing mine. I remember how sick I felt…
I have recovered, mostly, on my own. I have not managed to tell many people about this. My best friends. My sister. I have been working up the courage and strength to tell my mom for about a month now. I wish that I had someone to talk me through my pain.
It was someone who I knew and trusted. He doesn’t think it was wrong. He thought we were just fooling around. Fooling around doesn’t leave the girl terrified.