Rehtaeh Parsons
Thank you to Leah Parsons for talking with me for this episode.
This episode is sponsored by Brooklinen. Get $20 off and free shipping with promo code SIGHT at brooklinen.com
The story of Rehtaeh Parsons begins, for many people, with a post that went viral.
The post was made in April of 2013, just after Rehtaeh died following a suicide attempt. Her mother, Leah Parsons, started a memorial Facebook page to honor the life of Rehtaeh and the first post let the world know that Rehtaeh had been sexually assaulted a year and a half previously, a photo of the assault had been passed around, and she was bullied to the point her world fell apart around her.
But others heard the story when in May of 2014, a new hashtag started showing up on social media. It was hashtag Retaeh Parsons is her name. This hashtag was started by Leah in response to a Canadian court’s ruling to ban publication of Rehtaeh’s name.
Who was Rehtaeh before this happened? And what are Rehtaeh's parents doing to keep this from happening to anyone else?
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Cover art by Ali & Lars
Music by Scott Buckley