Stephanie Giorgi on Life After Her Sexual Assault
Over a year ago, Stephanie Giorgi opened up to Cosmopolitan.com about why her hair was falling out: She was sexually assaulted just before her 27th birthday.
It was the first time she had publicly acknowledged that she was a victim of assault and that her hair falling out was, in fact, her body reacting to the physical and emotional trauma.
"My body cried for me," she told Cosmopolitan.com back in 2016. "My body was telling me, ‘Hey, you’re right to think that it wasn’t OK. And if you’re not going to think about it, we’re going to give you something else to think about.’ My body was talking to me."
Her story immediately went viral and Giorgi received hundreds of messages on Facebook from women telling her that they had experienced the same thing. It wasn't until they saw her video that they too felt the courage to speak out.
"Doing the video, saying it aloud, and really breaking down the story and my feelings and sentiments absolutely was a release," Giorgi recalls. However, she was still on a long road to healing and acceptance - including accepting the fact that she was angry.
"I tried to act as if, OK, everything's done again. It's putting in the work for yourself. Talking about it. Therapy is where I found out that I was angry," admits Giorgi. And it's owning her anger and owning her assault that has made her stronger and allowed her to come to terms with it.
Giorgi also acknowledges that it's not uncommon for survivors of rape and sexual assault to be dismissed - especially in a time like this, when the conversation surrounding sexual assault and harassment has come to dominant the national discourse. It's important, she notes, to encourage discussion and reflection.
"We are humans, we are not animals, we are capable of having the conversation of being angry about it, discussing it, but enlightening ourselves, learning from it."
With her shaved hairstyle now gone, Giorgi wants you to remember that the image of her from 2016 is not forever.
"What happened to me does not define me," she states. "It's how I react to it. It's what I do afterwards."
You can watch the full video above.
Senior video producer: Jason Ikeler
Videographer/editor: Andy Clancy
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