Stephanie Leeb Profile picture
Aug 28 28 tweets 10 min read
🧵Due to Johnny Depp's/Adam Waldman's smear campaign, there is a perception Amber Heard's word is not credible, especially regarding sexual violence. This perception is not reality. She has said many things that corroborate the sexual violence Depp perpetrated against her.
The most important factor to understand in understanding how Amber has talked about sexual violence, is the effect shame has on silencing victims. Shame walks hand in hand with victim blaming.
Women also have a difficult time knowing how to classify their experiences. Because we don't talk about it and there are many different ways someone can be sexually assaulted it isn't always clear what is and isn't sexual assault.
When Dr. Hughes says there were at least three instances of sexual assault she isn't having a memory difficulty she is describing the difficulty in classifying sexually abusive experiences.
Ellen Barkin's deposition is also an example of how women have difficulty classifying our experiences. She makes a point to correct the interviewer that her relationship with Depp was sexual not romantic.
Ellen describes her first sexual experience with Depp as him giving her a quaalude and asking "want to fuck". Amber's reaction to Ellen's testimony is also telling, she understands and relates to Ellen's need to classify her sexual experiences on her terms.
When Amber describes the following incident with Depp from the Rum Diary, she does not call it a sexual assault though she certainly could see it that way. She talks about "playfully batting away" Depp's inappropriate come on and this is something women learn at an early age.
Amber tells Depp in two separate audios to get off of her. Audio 1.
Audio 2. It's telling that even when he is being recorded he still is violating her boundaries.
She also describes wanting to fall asleep before Depp would start touching her after an argument.
In the following audio Amber describes an incident where a stranger touched her inappropriately. She talked about this incident with Depp. It is very different to be sexually assaulted by a stranger than it is to be sexually assaulted by your partner.
Amber told Kristi Sexton that Depp attacked her with bottles in Australia in 2016 and then later described the rape to her. Kristi was a non-judgmental friend to Amber who gave her space to tell her story. That's why she was the friend Amber told.
It has been a long journey for Amber to understand what happened to her during the sexual assaults. This is not unusual or uncommon, as survivors have to contend with victim blaming myths and the shame of the assault and do not want to see it that way.
Amber was also confused in the Bahamas' sexual assault when Depp did not move her bathing suit out of the way when he digitally assaulted her. That confusion is a very memorable feeling and helps the assault stick out from the many times he sexually assaulted her digitally.
Amber saw her therapist Dr. Bonnie Jacobs before and during the relationship with Depp, Dr. Jacobs notes of their sessions documented sexual violence dating back to 2012.
When Amber did talk to Depp about Australia in this audio you can plainly hear how painful the experience was.
The audio is a demonstration of what Dr. Hughes' discusses in her testimony about Amber's need to put the sexual violence in a box and bury it.
Amber discusses the need to tell gynecologists about the Australia incident.
When Amber talks about the sexual assaults she is clearly having a difficult time with words and does not want to talk about the incidents. When she gets to sexual assault in Hicksville and says "cavity search" her mouth screws up because of the sudden painful burst of emotion.
The Australia testimony is particularly difficult for her. She hyperventilates.
14) When Depp denies sexually assaulting her, Amber is distressed and upset.
The following clip shows a very nuanced aspect of the sexual violence. Depp is clearly humiliating her in the clip and he is enjoying hearing it played back on the stand.
Amber looks down as hearing the clip played is humiliating because of Depp's words Another aspect, is that it is likely uncomfortable for her to have the detail that they had sex during the mediations in San Francisco revealed to the world.
Amber advocates against sexual violence often and speaks very profoundly on the subject.
It's impossible to capture every instance she has spoken up but she has lended her voice and her actions many times.
Amber was concerned for Lily Rose when Lily Rose had a crush on a older rock start staying with Depp. Amber knows what it is like to be a teenage girl and understands the need to protect her in this situation she did this even knowing she would face Depp's wrath.
In Amber's Op-Ed she alludes to Donald Trump's infamous "Grab them by the pussy" recording. Depp has assaulted her many times in this way so it is very clear why Trump's recording is offensive to her and that she needed to include it.
It's past time for society to hear in her words what she experienced. #GiveAmberHeardHerVoiceBack Thank you for taking the time to engage with my thread.

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