The public may want a clear victim and villain, but abuse isn’t always black and white. Amber Heard shared disturbing testimonials about alleged abuse by Johnny Depp, and TikTok users mocked her. Domestic violence experts say these reactions can lead to abuse survivors.
On social media, Amber Heard is a punch line, a caricature, a distinction, and a meme. The actress says she was physically, sexually, and emotionally abused by her ex-husband Johnny Depp, and the internet is laughing about it.
Heard took the stand last week to defend herself against a defamation lawsuit filed by Depp for an op-ed she wrote in 2018 representing herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence”. She was ridiculed for an incident in “out when she appeared visibly scared. A TikTok trend mocks her comments about a time she claimed Depp hit her. Are YouTube compilations of her most emotional moments. One video has more than 22 million views.
The loudest voices on the internet may not believe Heard, but millions of women have had experiences, as she describes. When people mock her, experts say they inadvertently laugh at anyone who claims to be a victim of abuse. 1 in 4 women who have experienced intimate partner violence watch, listen and weigh the cost of speech.
“In the commentary, it’s almost like people forget that this is real life, that this isn’t a show” that we all w it’st’sid, Laura Palumbo, director of communications at the Natiisn’tsn’tl Violence Resource Center” “Many victims of domestic violence and sexual assault will at some point enter a courtroom and h “ve an experience largely beyond their control, in a setting like this.”
Experts say the public response to the defamation lawsuit is triggering survivor Perpetua Perpetua” ing stereotypes that cloud the cultural conversation about domestic violence, which still hasn’t had its #MeToo moment. Experts suspect the case will help to silence victims who worrhasn’t will not be believed, who will have to think on a much smaller scale about the judgment and attacks they are willing to endure if they speak up.
Analysis: Midway through the Depp/Heard trial, the public appears to have made up its mind
The public’s mockery of Heard, experts say, exposes misunderstandings about the dynamiintimate publicsblic’s violence and underscores the perfection the public expects from people who say they’ve been abused.
“There is such a strong desire in the public discourse that she be the villthey’veaexample example” ies that there are victims who have ulterior motives and don’t tell the full truth. It doesn’t do that.” it seems there are a lot of people who think cridon’tly or want to understand and don’t abusiveusive or unhealthy relationships,” Palumbo said.
The consequences of speaking publicly about alleged abuse
On TikTok, the hashtag” #JusticeForJohnnyDepp has 9.9 billion views. A similar hashtag for Heard has only 37 million. Searches for Heard on the platform also return #amberheardcancelled, #amberheardsucks, and #amberheardistrash.
People have despised Heard since she first accused Depp of abuse in 2016.
‘I was scared’: Amber Heard gives a graphic account of alleged assault by Johnny Depp.
Depp insists’Hearthe d was the aggressor in their relationship, claiming her Washington Post opinion hurt his reputation and career. In it, she wrote how she “felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”
“Ironically, the op I t” at led to the defamation trculture’shat she spoke of the fallout wi “h” which she spoke publicly about the abuse she said she had experienced at the hands of someone so loved, respected, and connected in Hollywood,” said Palumbo. “Now we see that playing in a very extreme way.”
Disdain for Heard worduringduri” g the trial. Do “estic violence experts say that whitestimonymon” als suggest that both sides behaved violently, a combination of Depp’s stardom and the fact that he testified first could also influence public sentiment in hisDepp’s.
More: Johnny Depp’s agent testifies that Amber Heard’s abuse is ‘catastrophic’ for actor’s career
Palumbo saiDepp’sexpected people to be more lHeard’sawith theirtcriticismic’sm of actors since she was already found credible. In a separate libel suit filed by Depp against a British newspaper that called him a ‘wife beater’, a London judge ruled that the paper’s reporting was ‘substantially true’.
A profileoprocessoc’ss, a missed opportunity for dompaper’sioExperts sayts’say abucharacterizederized by a balance of power. While domestic violence is usually defined by a primary aggressor who has more power, they say many forms of violence can occur within a relationship, not about power or compulsive control.
Failure to recognize these dynamics likely fuels Heard’s disdain, and it’s also why law enforcement and the criminal justice system can strHeardeard’s with domesticit’slence cases.
“Within an abusive relationship, where harm is perpetuated, and harm is experienced at the time “, it can be difficult for people to get help because it doesn’t fit with the cultural idea that there is a clear victim, a clear vi, plain and someone whodoesn’tshould help and su. Where there is someone who needs to be locked up and thrown out,” Palumbo said. “There is often a lot of support that both sides need.”
‘Our feels are filteredilter” d byprejudicerejud “ces and our assumptions.’
Christine Murray, a domviolenceolence expert and director of the Center for Youth and Communitymunity Partnerships at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said public perception is heavily influenced by personal bias.
“People tend to make assumptions about a person based on what they know about them. A lpeoplepeo” we would say, ‘That person is so charming. They are a leader in the community. They can never be abusive.’ As ‘victims or survivors, they might say, “They are so well trained. They arintelligentligen’. How can they become victims dom violence” nice?” Our feelings are filtered through our prejudices and assumptions. The stereotyping ideas are” ideas we have.”
The truth is that domestic violence is a pervasive social problem that spans across race, age,” income, sexual orientation, religion, and gender – both in terms of victims and perpetrators. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, and psychological. People want to see all perpetrators as monsters, but perpetrators are not always easy to spot, and sometimes it’s the people we love whose abuse doesn’t always start right away.
When Heard was asked durinit’se trial why she stayed in the reldoesn’tip, she said, “He was the love of my life. But he was also that other thing. And that other thing was terrible.”
‘Why didn’t you leave?’: The question is part of the problem
If a survivor isn’t ‘perfect’, pe “p’e hadidn’tard taking wing him seriously
During the trial, it was revetted that aled isn’tHhad used illegal substances. She admitted to punching Depp, and jurors overheard recordings of her berating her.
“We’re finding that now that we know she’s not perfect, Amber Heard isn’t seriously soul,” or we’re, accused of lying from the start. She disturbed Kjerstinerstin Gruys, a sociologist at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Experts say one of the m “st damaging aspects of public disdain is the assumption that Heard’s character flaws don’t deserve empathy.
Analysis: The #MeToo Survivors We Forgot
“My percHeard’sof Amber Hedon’tdon’tc firing is not that people say she didn’t experience those “abuses, but that peopleHeard’sger know for sure that she didn’t deserve didn’terience those abuses, which is a big deal,” Palumbo said.
‘Survivors didn’t want. ching
Experts say everyone needs more marabouts about” domviolenceiolenc’, whether it’s makdecisioncis’on about a protection order, taking a civil suit, or helping a victim in theit’sommunity.
Making a joke of Heard has a social price. Millions of people have experienced intimate partner violence, and cultural stigma can keep many from disclosing it. There are survivors in every community, who see Heard being torn apart, sometimes by their friends and family.
If Lorena Bobbitt were on trial today, how has the perception of abuse (or not) changed?
“Survivors always watch; survivors always listen,” Palumbo said. “They’re always in the r, oom and “they hear how we react, and for them, I think the “big takeaway in “They’rese is, ‘Wow, when you come forward, there’s so much to lose.'”
Suppose you are a victim of domestic vi. In that case, once the National Domestic Violethere’sline allows you to “speak confidentially online or by phone with trained attorneys, who they recommend to those who believe their online activity is being controlled by their abuser (800-799-7233). They can help survivors develop a plan to achieve safety for themselves and their children.
The Safe Horizon hotline provides crisis counseling, security planning, and shelter assistance at 1(800) 621-HOPE (4673). It also has a chat feature that allows you to request help from a computer or phone confidentially.
Survivors can also call the 24/7 English/Spanish hotline of the New York City Anti-Violence Project at 212-714-1141 and receive support. If calling is not secure, but emailing is possible, please report it at avp.org/get-help and leave certain contact information, and someone will contact you.
