‘I am just trying to live my life as a free woman’: Emily Atack breaks down as she admits campaign of online harassment leaves her feeling sexually assaulted ‘100 times a day’
Emily Atack broke down on Tuesday while admitting she feels sexually assaulted ‘100 times a day’ as a consequence of the crude messages she receives on social media.
The actress explores the alarming rise in online sexual harassment for new BBC2 documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It after experiencing repeated daily abuse across her Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Appearing on Tuesday’s edition of This Morning, an emotional Atack, 33, revealed one of her abusers repeatedly bombard her with inappropriate messages based on her regular social media updates.
Emotional: Emily Atack broke down on Tuesday while admitting she feels sexually assaulted ‘100 times a day’ as a consequence of the crude messages she receives on social media
She also claimed some male followers wrongly assume she is ‘up for it’ based on her Instagram content, despite having never met the actress.
She said: ‘I am 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, its this spiral of self doubt and shame and doubt.’
Atack, who found fame in teen sitcom The Inbetweeners, revealed one of her regular online abusers is a married father who frequently creates fake accounts in order to send her sexually explicit messages.
Nightmare: Appearing on Tuesday’s edition of This Morning, an emotional Atack revealed one of her abusers repeatedly bombard her with inappropriate messages
Devastated: The actress was comforted by host Holly Willoughby as she discussed the alarming rise in online sexual harassment aimed at women
False impression: She also claimed some male followers wrongly assume she is ‘up for it’ based on her Instagram content, despite having never met the actress
‘He says that he tucks his children into bed and then comes alone to abuse me,’ she told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
‘Then, well, sometimes he asks if I’ll get involved with him and his wife. Then he says: “I want to do it behind my wife’s back while my children are asleep.”
‘He calls himself “daddy Dave” to me and constantly says the word “daddy”, which is really psychologically horrible.’
Stepping out: The actress was seen arriving at BBC studios for Women’s Hour during her promotional campaign for new show Emily Atack: Asking For It
Atack previously explained her motivation for campaigning for tougher laws concerning harassment and the impact it has on her and her family’s mental health.
She told Monday’s BBC Breakfast: ‘We were in lockdown, everyone feeling really isolated and my whole life I had noticed the behaviour that men throw towards me.
‘But I really noticed a surge in sexually violent threats being sent to me on social media.
‘And it was getting worse and worse and I used humour as a way to cope with it and put it out there to say is this normal?’
‘I screenshotted the stuff and I just wanted to see the reaction. It was fascinating to see how huge this problem is.’
Emily Atack: Asking For It airs on Tuesday at 9:00PM on BBC2.
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