Jena Malone was sexually assaulted by someone she worked with on 'Hunger Games': 'I've worked very hard to heal'
Jena Malone has revealed she was sexually assaulted by someone she worked with filming The Hunger Games. In an emotional post Tuesday on Instagram, the 38-year-old actress opened up about healing through restorative justice in an effort to "make peace with the person who violated me and make peace with myself."
Malone played Johanna Mason in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. On Tuesday, she shared a photo of herself in a field in the countryside of France after the final film wrapped. Malone explained she had just said "goodbye to everyone on set" and asked her driver to pull over "so I could cry and capture this moment."
"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," she captioned the picture. "A swirling mix of emotions I'm only now just learning to sort thru. 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."
Restorative justice is when victims communicate with their offender to explain the impact of the assault.
Malone noted "it's been hard" to talk about The Hunger Games films and her character "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 concluded by sending love to other survivors and called her healing process "slow and non linear." Malone offered support to anyone who needs it.
Willow Shields, who played Jennifer Lawrence's onscreen sister, Primrose Everdeen, was among those who responded in the comments section. "This post has me at a loss of words. I understand and I hope that though the process is so slow you are okay Jena," she wrote.
Malone replied to some people in the comments where she opened up more about her journey.
When one person remarked how the unnamed individual "got to walk away with no repercussions," the actress responded and said, "That's not true."
"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," Malone explained.
Malone replied to someone else and said she's "not quite ready" to talk about specifics of her restorative justice process, but said it began by doing research online.
"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 meditation settings. I felt I heeded to do it alone I guess," she wrote.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline is here for survivors 24/7 with free, anonymous help. 800.656.HOPE (4673) and online.rainn.org.
