‘It just goes to show you can’t be a sexually liberated woman’: Emily Atack breaks down in tears as she admits vile online sexual abuse leaves her feeling assaulted ‘100 times a day’
Emily Attack broke down on Tuesday by admitting she feels sexually assaulted ‘100 times a day’ as a result of the rude messages she receives on social media.
The actress explores the alarming rise in sexual harassment online for the new BBC2 documentary Emily Attack: Asking For It after experiencing repeated daily abuse on her Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Appearing on Tuesday’s edition of This Morning, an emotional Atack, 33, revealed that one of her abusers repeatedly bombards her with inappropriate messages based on her regular social media updates.
Emotional: Emily Attack broke down Tuesday by admitting she feels sexually assaulted ‘100 times a day’ as a result of the crude messages she receives on social media.
She also claimed that some male followers wrongly assume she is “willing” based on her Instagram content, despite never having met the actress.
She said: “I’m just trying to live my life as a free woman without being harassed… when you get messages like that you feel so alone and isolated, it’s this spiral of self-doubt and shame and self-doubt.”
Attack, who rose to fame on the teen sitcom The In Betweeners, said one of his regular online abusers is a married father who frequently creates fake accounts to send him sexually explicit messages.
Nightmare: Appearing in Tuesday’s edition of This Morning, an emotional attack revealed that one of her abusers repeatedly bombarded her with inappropriate messages.
Devastated: Host Holly Willoughby comforted the actress as she spoke about the alarming rise in online sexual harassment directed at women.
“He says he puts his kids to bed and then he comes just to harass me,” she told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
‘So, well, sometimes he asks me if I’m going to get involved with him and his wife. Then he says, “I want to do it behind my wife’s back while my kids sleep.”
“He calls himself ‘Dad Dave’ to me and constantly says the word ‘dad’, which is really horrible psychologically.”
Stepping out: The actress was seen arriving at the BBC studios for Women’s Hour during her promotional campaign for the new show Emily Attack: Asking For It
For a good cause: Atack is campaigning for stricter laws on bullying as a result of the impact it has on his and his family’s mental health.
Abuse: Attack checks his social media messages in a still from his new BBC2 show
Atack previously explained his motivation for campaigning for stronger laws on bullying and the impact it has on his and his family’s mental health.
She told the BBC breakfast on Monday: “We were in lockdown, everyone felt really isolated and all my life I had noticed the behavior men have towards me.”
“But I really noticed an increase in sexually violent threats sent to me on social media.
“And it was getting worse and worse and I used humor as a way to deal with it and explain it to say if this is normal.”
‘I took a screenshot of the stuff and just wanted to see the reaction. It was fascinating to see how big of a problem this is.’
False impression: She claimed that some male followers wrongly assumed she is “willing” based on her Instagram content, despite never having met the actress.
Hard at work: The actress previously discussed the issue during a BBC breakfast appearance on Monday morning
Speaking about the vile things that have been sent to him, he said: “Sadly, things have happened to me in person as well.”
‘The reason I say this online abuse is just as bad as it is on the street is that the feeling I get when something is sent to me gives me the same feelings as if it happened on the street.
When someone sends me a message like that, I can delete it, but that message has already been sent, I have to continue to see that.
‘People ask me to turn a blind eye by blocking and deleting. All of these behaviors can escalate and become much worse.’
Emily Attack: Asking For It airs Tuesday at 9:00pm on BBC2.