The Other 99 percent - Short Film

My name is Leah-holly O'Hara and I am the writer/director of The Other 99%. When I was 18 I was sexually assaulted. I am now 23 years old and since then attitudes towards sexual assault in the UK and globally have not changed. In fact, figures show that the number of victims who are able to gain legal justice against their abuser has actually fallen. Currently the percentage of victims who gain a conviction in the UK is below 1%.

I myself have struggled to navigate a world where justice is near impossible to attain and where I am repeatedly told by my government, the police force and all those with the power to create real change that my story doesn't matter. I started to experience fantasies where I was able to attain my own form of justice. But despite the short term reprieve of retreating into these fantasies I am still left with an abundance of rage with nowhere to put it. I know who i'm angry at but I am powerless to do anything about it. We are the ones that get left behind by a failed justice system and we deserve better.

This is where the idea for 'The Other 99%' came from. I have been assaulted more times than I care to mention by numerous individuals since I was a child. And I know for a fact there are thousands of women in the UK and millions across the world that deal with the same frustrations and pain as they are at a continuous loss of direction on where to put their trauma and where to direct the overwhelming amount of emotion that you are left with, while the abusers and perpetrators walk freely among us, feeling they have nothing to apologise for.

Our hope is that this film will bring light to that fact and bring about some real change in our society's attitudes towards sexual assault. However, the main aim is to bring comfort to other victims, knowing that they are not alone, not wrong for having these negative thoughts and fantasies and that even if you can't gain a legal conviction against someone who has violated you, that you can take back that power they took by owning your experience and speaking freely about it. Any amount that you can donate not only helps towards funding this film but to also helping create a network and safe space for victims who have been forgotten by the powers that be.

We are trying to raise the sum of £350 to help create our film, anything that you can donate not only helps this project but helps create a piece of work that can connect victims and help them with their trauma.

Upon completion of our project we hope to take the film to festivals and hold screenings at local cinemas so that everyone has the opportunity to come and see our film. We would like to connect with charities that help survivors and bring together different groups of people united under one common thread.