Getting Harassed For Exposing Sexual Harassment
Happy To Be Here
Greta Johnsen
4.6 • 924 Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2018
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Speaking out about traumatic incidents can sometimes be more traumatic than the incidents themselves. That was the case for one reporter after she documented rampant sexual harassment at a recent music festival.
Vera Papisova is the wellness editor for Teen Vogue and runs the magazine’s sexual assault awareness campaign. After Teen Vogue published her explosive article about sexual assault at Coachella 2018, Papisova became the target of internet trolls.
“People usually say, ‘Ignore the trolls,’ and ‘Don’t read the comments,’” Papisova tells Nerdette. “I went against both of those. I broke both of those rules.”
Papisova tells us about her experience at the festival, how she’s been responding to her online harassers, and what she’s doing to maintain her sanity.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Natalie Moore. I fell in love with soap operas when I was just five years old, and I still |
| 0:06.1 | watch them. Their television's longest scripted series and have zero reruns. Now let me tell you, |
| 0:12.7 | soap operas aren't just some silly art form. They are significant. In this season of making, |
| 0:18.0 | Stories Without End from WBEZ Chicago. |
| 0:25.7 | Join me as I share how the genre began, their social impact, and why these stories endure. |
| 0:28.3 | Listen, wherever you get your podcast. |
| 0:40.5 | Hey, before we get started with this episode, I just want to warn you, this interview does have descriptions of harassment, so it might be upsetting to some listeners. |
| 0:42.1 | Here we go. |
| 0:51.4 | From WBEZ Chicago, I am Greta Johnson, and this is PowerUp, a project from Nerdat Podcast where we talk to fascinating people about how they set themselves up for success in what can be an exhausting world. |
| 0:58.6 | One extra exhausting part of the world is sexual assault. |
| 1:03.2 | It's a topic that's gotten lots more attention since the Me Too movement has begun and the conversation is happening all over the place. |
| 1:10.4 | In workplaces and |
| 1:12.4 | Hollywood sets and music festivals. |
| 1:16.2 | It's supposed to be a time to let loose and have fun, but many women say they can't do that |
| 1:21.0 | because they're constantly watching out for unwanted events. |
| 1:24.5 | But how safe are women attending America's premier music festival more and more? |
| 1:29.4 | In closed quarters like this at a concert like Coachella, you can certainly see how a guy could grab a girl without her consent. |
| 1:36.6 | It's not just Coachella. Our guest this week is Vera Papasova, the wellness editor for Teen Vogue. She recently attended Coachella, a music festival in |
| 1:44.8 | Southern California, that this year featured artists like Hime and the weekend and, of course, |
| 1:50.1 | Beyonce. Vera interviewed 54 women at the festival, and each one, like every single one, told |
| 1:57.4 | her they had been sexually harassed during that weekend. Her article has received a ton of |
| 2:02.3 | attention, both positive and negative Vera. Welcome to power up. Thank you so much. I'm such a big |
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