Here Are Some Of The Brave Survivors Who Took A Stand At The Oscars
"Thank you for standing next to me on stage. Thank you for all the things you said, for listening to my story and sharing yours. I will never forget it. 50 survivors, so brave, relentless determination." - Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga performed "Til It Happens To You" (her original song that was written for "The Hunting Ground") at the 2016 Oscars to a standing, tear-filled ovation.
"The Hunting Ground" is a 2015 documentary about college students facing retaliation as they speak out for justice for victims of college campus rape.
To introduce Lady Gaga's performance, Vice President Joe Biden asked everyone to take the "It's On Us" pledge, which promptly received 300,000 additional signatures.
"I'm asking you to join millions of Americans, including me, President Obama, the thousands of students I've met on college campuses, and the artists I've met here tonight to take the pledge," Biden said, "A pledge that says, 'I will intervene in situations when consent has not or cannot be given.' Let's change the culture. We must change the culture, so that no abused women or man, like the survivors you will see tonight, ever feel they have to ask themselves, 'What did I do?' They did nothing wrong."
Take the pledge, here.
But a huge part of the performance's immense emotional power was the support of 50 sexual assault survivors from college campuses across the country who took the stage during the song.
The 50 men and women who joined Gaga represent various activist groups formed in response to their assault and the poor treatment, blame and disregard they received from administration.
Some powerful examples include: the End Rape on Campus organization, the #SurvivorPrivilege hashtag and the book "Millennial Sex Education."
And after their performance, Brie Larson (Oscar-winning Best Actress for her portrayal in "Room" of a young woman raped and imprisoned) gave each and every one of them a hug.
These photos represent only a small portion of the survivors present at the Oscars, and an even smaller portion of the 1 of 5 college women and 1 of 16 college men who are sexually assaulted annually.
Sofie Karasek is one of three women featured prominently in "The Hunting Ground" and organizers of the group End Rape on Campus.
The group has been instrumental in sparking a national conversation about the problematic ways colleges and universities are handling sexual assault on campus.
Gaga took time before the performance to reach out to the survivors and share her own story of assault and reach out with encouragement.
Ari Mostov is a survivor who was told she wasn't raped because her attacker didn't orgasm. She worked closely on another documentary "It Happened Here" which helped her to heal.
More information on Ari's story and "It Happened Here" can be found on their website, and the film can be viewed on Netflix.
Wagatwe Wanjuki took to Twitter with the hashtag #SurvivorPrivilege after a conservative columnist claimed victimhood had become a "coveted status that confers privileges."
More about Wagatwe's story can be found here.
Andrew Brown is boldly taking on the equally pressing problem of male sexual assault on college campuses.
Brown's story is detailed here.
Kamilah Willingham provided one of the central stories for "The Hunting Ground" about her assault as a student at Harvard Law.
She explains her experiences briefly, here.
Kevin Kantor is an artist and survivor who described in a slam poem about how his rapist appeared in his Facebook "People You May Know" section.
Watch his powerful performance here.
Rose Richi was one of a group of women who sued the University of Connecticut for how it handled various sexual assault cases.
Rose's story and that of six other women can be found here.
Both Nastassja Schmiedt and Lea Roth were assaulted at Dartmouth College and have since written the book "Millennial Sex Education"
Find the engaged couple's book here.
Zerlina Maxwell has repeatedly spoken out in high-profile situations about her assault and argued against handgun possession as a method to prevent rape.
The argument, on "Hannity" can be watched here.
Fabiana Diaz has staged demonstrations on her campus after her sexual assault.
Kirat Sandhu stood with Lady Gaga and explained the life-changing experience for her and her fellow survivors.
Read about Kirat's experience here.
Annie Clark and Andrea Pino are also featured prominently in "The Hunting Game" and have become impassioned activists for the cause.
More about their fight can be found here.
Thanh Mai is a student at the University of California.
Hope also joined the powerful group for Lady Gaga's performance.
Hannah Schiller is currently a Medical Advocate at the Boston Area Rape Crisis center to help survivors like herself.
Ibis Valdés studied at Northeastern University and also joined Gaga's Oscars performance.
She posted more about her story and experience on her Facebook page.
The bravery of the survivors is unparalleled and Lady Gaga said it best herself after the show: "Thank you for standing next to me on stage. Thank you for all the things you said, for listening to my story and sharing yours."