Sex abuse survivors must be heard, but supported as well

Ms Johnson came up with the idea of the voicemail service on her way to give a speech at the Global Citizen Festival in New York last year.

She had been asked to speak on behalf of the She is Equal campaign, which advocates reform in women’s healthcare and increased awareness of gender-based violence.

However, as she was preparing her speech, she realised she “didn’t feel comfortable” speaking on behalf of survivors, so decided to listen to them instead.

She said: “I wanted to hear from them. I didn’t want to speak, I wanted to listen.

“So I got a phone number linked to a voicemail box and I asked women and girls around the world to call me and tell me their stories.

“I promised that I would make their voices heard.”

Speaking only to an automated service, huge numbers of survivors called to tell their distressing stories – of abuse at a young age by family members, of being threatened with murder if they dared to speak out, of only ever knowing violence and abuse from men.

Not all were genuine, of course, but, as Ms Johnson said: “There were real ones and there were many.”

The actor has now created a podcast featuring excerpts from some of the messages, and it makes for difficult listening.

The Left Ear podcast – so called because the left ear is “closest to the heart” – is difficult because of the content, but also because so many people had to call a celebrity’s voicemail to feel heard.

That such vast numbers of women have tales of abuse to tell, and called Ms Johnson’s number so quickly, is also maddeningly sad.

But this has been the case with the entire #MeToo movement, played out worldwide on social media.

As Sandy Brindley, of Rape Crisis Scotland, described it, #MeToo “was a bit of an earthquake in terms of understanding just how many women are affected by sexual abuse, harassment and assault”.

In Scotland, figures released recently by the Scottish Government show that sex crimes are at their highest recorded level, with the long-term trend linked to increased reporting, including historic offences.

However, Rape Crisis Scotland claim the figures are just a “drop in the ocean” as many choose not to report attacks.

Earlier this year, The Herald also reported on the scale of sexual harassment in the country’s workplaces, with figures revealing that one in three women have been targeted at work.

The data also revealed that 68 per cent of those who have been harassed or witnessed it happen to a colleague, did not report it, with the biggest reason being that they worried they would not be believed.

In response to #MeToo, the Scottish Parliament published a new sexual harassment policy, while a new legal service offering advice to those who have been harassed at work was set-up in the summer.

Two years on, the hashtag continues to trend worldwide, producing hundreds of posts on Twitter every hour - demonstrating the power of speaking out and being heard and the desire to do so.

Ms Johnson’s voicemail offered another way to facilitate this, a better way, perhaps, because there was no feedback, no replies and no comments for survivors to face.

As the actor put it: “Something about having no one on the other end of the phone to judge, diagnose, guide, criticise or pacify created a space where these women could just speak.

“There was a noticeable freedom and urgency in their voices.”

The podcast – although difficult to listen to – spread their stories even further, adding to the narrative on the magnitude of the problem.

But while it is good to share and be listened to, and there is no denying the impact of the #MeToo movement, experts say there is also a need for survivors to be able to access the right support.

It was reported last year that in some parts of Scotland, rape victims were waiting up to 10 months to access support services.

Ms Brindley – who praised Ms Johnson for using her “position of power to shed light on and give voice to the experiences of survivors” – said these services also offer women the chance to be listened to and believed, but, crucially, go on to offer them the right support to help them move on with their lives.

“Sexual violence is traumatic,” she said. “And as The Left Ear shows, the impact of these crimes can stay with someone for a very long time.

“Specialist services who listen, believe and support survivors to move forward after sexual violence are invaluable. But across Scotland they are stretched and in many places survivors have to wait for this often life saving support.”

She added: “Listening is important, and so too is sustainable funding.”