If there’s a Game Of Thrones episode that put people up in arms, it was the one with Sansa Starks rape scene. It prompted some fans to give up on the show, some really questioned the necessity of including it as another hyper-sexualised plot line, while others didn’t even recognise it as rape.
Episode 7 of season 5 was controversial. Almost two years later though, Sophie Turner (who plays Sansa Stark if you’re not a GOT person) has addressed how shocked and angry she was when that scene got the audience response that it did.
The main thing to come out of all of it, though, was the dialogue about the awful experiences, much like the one depicted in that scene, that women are still suffering across the world. In an essay published on International Women's Day for Huffington Post, Sophie explained: 'If, by seeing us tell that part of Sansa’s story, 10 survivors of sexual violence felt empowered to talk about their experience, I’ll happily put up with the Twitter storm in a teacup'
In a similar essay for Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sophie also addressed the Game of Thrones rape scene. She wrote: ‘At first I was angry. I was angry that there is such a taboo surrounding rape and that depicting it on screen was seen as vulgar. Sexual violence happens every day all around the world and yet for that to be represented on television, when other forms of violence are so often represented and more importantly, accepted and even welcomed in some cases, was considered disgusting instead of important. It made me think: why such a taboo?’
Sophie also explained her confusion over people’s eagerness to speak so passionately about on-screen rape when in reality, sexual violence is experienced by about 1/3 women worldwide. Which is what prompted Sophie to get involved in Women for Women International, a charity that supports marginalised women in war-torn and conflict-ridden countries.
After joining the Sisterhood, Sophie visited their programme in Rwanda (when the aftermath of the 1994 genocide still hangs over the heads of the women there) for what she describes as a ‘truly eye-opening experience’. In a video documenting her trip, Sophie explained that she really wanted to help women who have gone through the rape that was so controversially received in Game of Thrones to make it ‘a discussion in our lives so there is a constant dialogue about it’.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.