Dakota Johnson has launched a podcast to enable women to anonymously share their stories of sexual assault. She announced the plan last year by putting her phone number on Instagram for the entire world to access. She wrote: 'Women and girls in every corner of the world face extreme violence and sexual harassment on a daily basis. Over 800 women and adolescent girls die every day because they do not have access to reliable contraceptives and basic maternity services.
'I don’t want to speak for you. I want to listen to you. This is my phone number. Tell me your story in my voicemail, and I will listen.'
A year on, those messages have been turned into a podcast which you can listen to. It's harrowing and painful, as Dakota wrote herself: 'Listening to these stories can be very intense. So please take care of yourself if you choose to listen.'
Her caption reads: 'One year ago I asked women and girls around the world to call me and leave a voicemail telling their stories of sexual violence, harassment, and gender based inequalities. I didn’t want to speak on their behalf, I wanted to listen to them.
This is The Left Ear. A podcast where you will find the voicemails I listened to. To protect anonymity the voices have been slightly pitched, and any identifiers have been removed. Other than that, they have not been edited. These are real stories from real people around the world.
Listening to these stories can feel very intense. So please take care of yourself if choose to listen. And I hope you do choose to listen, because listening is the most important thing you can do for someone.
In this podcast, I want to create a space where the listener is listening just as honestly and bravely as the speakers who had the courage to call.
Your left ear is the ear closest to your heart. And by listening with your heart, you can save someone even just a little bit.
The first episode is available now, and more to follow every Monday starting October 7th.
For more information and resources visit the link above. All my love, D'.
You can listen to the first episode of ‘The Left Ear’ now. There will be a new episode to follow every Monday from 7 October.