3 Sexual Abuse Survivors Speak Out After Taking Stage With Lady Gaga At Oscars
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A group of about 50 sexual abuse survivors took center stage on Sunday night during Lady Gaga's show-stopping performance at the Oscars.
"As we were about to go on stage, we held hands and we said, 'This is for all of the people who are not here tonight and didn't make it to this point,' " said Lea Roth, a sexual abuse survivor and activist.
Three of those survivors and activists who flanked Gaga, each of them with a message of hope written in black ink on their arms, still visible the morning after.
Nastassja Scmiedt forearm reads: "Survivor."
She says her university and many of her close friends didn't believe her when she said she was raped.
"So when I first told my friends about it, I mean, honestly, they responded with 'That's just what sex is like,' which is really, really scary," Scmiedt said.
It is estimated one in five college women will be sexually assaulted.
Gaga, who says she was raped as a teen, performed her Oscar-nominated song, "Til It Happens to You" from the documentary, "The Hunting Ground," which is about sexual assault on college campuses.
"It was so powerful just being supported by her and she is so strong," Roth said.
The trio snapped a photograph with the pop-star backstage and one with Vice President Joe Biden, who introduced the singer.
Shots of the star-studded crowd showed many moved to tears.
"We could see Kate Winslet just kind of clutching her face the whole time," said Thanh Mai Bercher, another sexual abuse survivor and activist. "Brie Larson stood up and was kinda actually hugging us for what felt like forever because they couldn't believe that we were standing there in front of them."
The survivors say the best part of the performance was to feel as though finally someone was listening.
"We've had these adults and these administrators tell us that we need to just move forward and that it is not a big deal and to have people that don't know anything about us just see us and immediately just recognize us for who we are was so powerful," Bercher said.
About half of the survivors from last night revealed they got tattoos in solidarity. They say Gaga plans to get one, too.