Gabrielle Union tweets about being raped as a teenager to criticise victim-blaming in case of Tamir Rice
The actress was raped at gunpoint at 19-years-old
Gabrielle Union has used her own experience of being asked what she was wearing when she was raped to speak out against victim blaming in the case of Tamir Rice.
On Monday it was announced that the officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir, who was holding a toy gun, will not face charges.
Many have criticised the grand jury’s decision not to charge Officer Timothy Loehmann. The Rice family have also filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Cleveland and the officers involved in the incident which happened in November, 2014.
Union, an actress known for her roles in Bad Boys II alongside Will Smith and the TV series Ugly Betty, voiced her opinion on the issue on Twitter to highlight the faults in apparent defences which suggested Tamir looked older than his twelve years.
“Thinking about all the kids who are ‘big for their age & all of the evil excuses that will be used to defend their murders #TamirRice”, she wrote.
The 43-year-old then drew on her own experience as a survivor of rape, explaining to her 2.96 million followers that people still victim-blame her by asking what she was wearing when she was attacked.
Suggesting it is a widespread problem, Union continued: “If u look in the mirror, are u a ‘perfect victim’… I bet they could find something in ur life to make u villain to explain away ur pain” (sic).
Union also re-tweeted a tweet which suggested that racial bias means people imagine black teenagers to be “larger and more threatening”.
In 2014, Union reportedly told The View she was raped at gunpoint aged 19. She told the chat show she “embraces being a survivor, because that’s who I am”.
Union, who is married to NBA star Dwayne Wade, starred in several iconic nineties and Millennial films including 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That and Bring It On.