Last week, sad and depressing news broke that a 16-year-old girl had not only allegedly been raped but, after the incident in which she says she was drugged and abused, photos were taken of her as she laid passed out, images of her were then circulated on social media. And, to make matters worse, the way she was lying – passed out, raped – was imitated by idiots on Twitter, using the hashtag #jadapose.
In something like spiriting news, though, Jada's story seems to have taken a different turn since she waived her anonymity to talk about it on TV – something that has gained her thousands of supporters. Thousands of supporters who have taken to Twitter to redress the trolling. The #jadapose hashtag no longer contains photos of idiots mocking Jada, but tweets from those furious at the people who thought #jadapose was funny:
And now there are other hashtags in support of her, like #justiceforjada, #jadacounterpose and #Istandwithjada, full of people condemning the actions of her alleged rapists and those who mocked her online, as well as sharing their own stories of abuse.
#Iamjada, though, is the one that's been co-signed by Jada. It starts with a picture of Jada holding up a whiteboard with '#Iamjada' on it. With a defiant 'don't fuck with me' look on her face and her fist raised, she's started a new trend. Strangers from all over the world are now posting similar pictures, with the hashtag and the raised fist.
It's proof that the internet isn't actually all that bad. Jada wants more to be done, though, and isn't afraid to take this to the highest power in America. In an interview with Ronan Farrow, who has his own MSNBC programme, she says that she wrote a letter to Obama to get him to do something about it: 'I just wanted to tell President Obama that he needs to do something about [cyber bullying] and that is very important to me and other people.'
Houston Police department now say they are investigating, but Jada's family spokesman, Quanell X, isn't confident in them. 'The Houston Police Department have a history of these rape cases being backlogged,' he told Ronan. 'This does not take a drawn out systemic investigation because the pictures are out there, the boys put the video of what they did to Jada and the pictures of Jada out there. They also went further than that, they bragged about it and boasted about spiking the punch and they had extra punch for other girls.'
It's not just Jada they've hurt either, apparently: 'And we later learn it's more than just Jada they've done this to, there've been other girls with videos and pictures of them having sex with. It doesn't take rocket science for an investigative work to bring charges in Jada's case.'
The hope is that Jada talking about her experience will encourage more alleged victims to come forward so that charges can be brought. Hopefully, now the hashtag has got people all around talking about their experiences of sexual assault and rape, it will encourage those closer to home to come forward to stop the boys from doing anything like this again. 'He needs to get in trouble, they both do,' Jada told Ronan. In the meantime, at least online activism can raise awareness and show Jada she's got the world's support.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.