Lady Gaga's New Video About Rape Is SO Hard To Watch But So Important

Til It Happens To You is heartbreaking but incredibly powerful

21 March, 2018

Lady Gaga's New Video About Rape Is SO Hard To Watch But So Important

If you're expecting Lady Gaga's new video to feature her writhing about in a giant shell, wearing a leotard made of glitter or some such, you're best scrolling through her back catalogue. Because her latest video could not be further from what we're used to.

Please be aware that this video includes fictional footage of sexual violence that many will find disturbing, so proceed with caution.

Til It Happens To You was penned with legendary songwriter Diane Warren for documentary film The Hunting Ground, which investigates the shocking problem of sexual assaults at American colleges.

Written from the victim's perspective, Gaga sings, "You tell me hold your head up, Hold your head up and be strong, Cause when you fall you gotta get up, You gotta get up and move on." But she repeats, "you don't know how it feels, until to happens to you." Adding: "Till your world burns and crashes, Till you're at the end, the end of your rope, Till you're standing in my shoes, I don't wanna hear a thing or two from you, from you."

The video, directed by Twilight's director Catherine Hardwicke, has now been released and it really does not hold back when it comes to portraying the real horror of sexual assault in the most graphic way possible and begins with a warning:

"The following contains graphic content that may be emotionally unsettling but reflects the reality of what is happening daily on college campuses."

What follows is a beautifully shot, brilliantly acted short film following three harrowing stories of women who are raped at college. One girl is overpowered by a man in a classroom, another trans student is attacked while changing in a men's locker room and then there are two friends who are date raped after being drugged at a party.

[vevo align="center" ]http://www.vevo.com/watch/lady-gaga/Til-It-Happens-To-You/USUV71502666[/vevo]

The video then goes on to follow each victim as they struggle to cope with what has happened, battling depression and feelings of worthlessness, traumatised by flashbacks. Eventually, the victims find some comfort in simply being listened to by their friends, accepting support and learning to ignore the feelings of guilt and shame that so many rape victims admit to being plagued by.

It ends: "One in five college women will be sexually assaulted this year unless something changes."

Lady Gaga tweeted today announcing that a portion of proceeds from sales of the song will be donated to organisations helping survivors. She added: "We hope u feel our love&solidarity through the song & perhaps find some peace in knowing u r not alone through this film #TilItHappensToYou".

Gaga revealed last year that she was sexually assaulted herself when she was 19 and this year wrote an open letter to address the "epidemic of sexual violence" on campuses.