Jena Malone opened up about getting sexually assaulted while playing Johanna Mason in The Hunger Games movie franchise.
Yesterday, Malone described overcoming the "traumatic event" in an Instagram post, in which she shared a photo of herself standing among tall grass in the French countryside.
"This photo was taken right after I wrapped [Mockingjay - Part 2] and I had to say goodbye to everyone on set. We were shooting in a beautiful estate in the countryside of France and I asked the driver to let me out in this field so I could cry and capture this moment," she began. "Even tho this time in Paris was extremely hard for me , was going thru a bad break up and also was sexually assaulted by someone I had worked with , I was so full of gratitude for this project, the people I became close with and this amazing part I got to play. A swirling mix of emotions im only now just learning to sort thru."
She continued, "I wish it wasn't tied to such a traumatic event for me but that is the real wildness of life [I] guess. How to hold the chaos with the beauty. I've worked very hard to heal and learn thru restorative justice , how to make peace with the person who violated me and make peace with myself. It's been hard to talk about the hunger games and Johanna Mason without feeling the sharpness of this moment in time but I'm ready to move thru it and reclaim the joy and accomplishment I felt."
She ended her message by sending her support to fellow survivors of sexual assault.
"Lots of love to you survivors out there," Malone wrote. "The process is so slow and non linear. I want to say im here for anyone who needs to talk or vent or open uncommunicated spaces within themselves. Please dm me if you need a safe space to be heard."
View full post on InstagramIn the comments section of the post, Malone replied to a user who suggested that the perpetrator of the assault "got to walk away with no repercussions."
"No that's not true," Malone wrote back. "I used restorative justice to allow healing and accountability and growth with the other person. It was a hard process but one I believe truly helped me move thru some of the hardest parts of the grief."
She elaborated on her personal process with restorative justice, an approach that focuses on accountability and reparation through communication between the victim and offender, and explained why she won't name her assaulter.
"One day I will try and write out the process I used but I'm not quite ready yet. Just so you know , I didn't read any books but know there are so many online. I did do a lot of online research," Malone shared. "What lead me there was feeling not held by 'outing' someone using the traditional cancel like culture that has been created. I also don't fully see how the criminal justice system could fully repair my healing , though I do believe it can help in many ways. It all lead me to using restorative justice , basically a system of repairing harm, to speak to the other party involved and make requests of my healing journey and really just be heard. It wasn't perfect and I'm sure I could have used the help of the many teachers out there who practice restorative justice in mediation settings. I felt I needed to do it alone I guess."
