@jandriakos
03/19/2015 AT 07:35 PM EDT
Ashley Judd has more than a few words to say to her Twitter tormenters.The Insurgent actress, 46, penned a lengthy personal essay condemning violence against women and Internet bullying in response to a series of hateful comments she received after Tweeting during the University of Kentucky's Southeastern Conference championship game Sunday.
Judd titled the opinion piece which was posted on Mic on Thursday "Forget Your Team: Your Online Violence Toward Girls and Women Is What Can Kiss My a*s."
In the 1,300 word op-ed, she addresses gender violence and the harmful anonymity of the Internet: "This particular tsunami of gender-based violence and misogyny flooding my Twitter feed was overwhelming," she wrote.
"What happened to me is the devastating social norm experienced by millions of girls and women on the Internet. Online harassers use the slightest excuse (or no excuse at all) to dismember our personhood. My Tweet was simply the convenient delivery system for a rage toward women that lurks perpetually," she continued.
The actress blasted the statement on her social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook, where she wrote, "I've been trying to focus only on daffodils and college basketball, enjoying Insurgent arriving in theaters this week, and yet the geyser of gender violence online has been demanding of my time."
On Twitter, the actress called upon Millennials to jumpstart the change:
I published my #onlinegenderviolence essay w/ http://t.co/0nBdc5Ic5u because millennias will solve this problem. http://t.co/a8wNUWYytE
ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 19, 2015The social media storm began after Judd Tweeted in support of her alma mater basketball team the Kentucky Wildcats during March Madness.
Users quickly attacked Judd with a slew of sexually violent responses, which included derogatory nicknames and threats of rape and sodomy. (She is also seeking legal action).
Judd, who has spoken out about her own experiences as a victim of sexual assault, holds the gender violence issue close to her heart.
In the new essay, she wrote, "I am a survivor of sexual assault, rape and incest. I am greatly blessed that in 2006, other thriving survivors introduced me to recovery. I seized it."
She is also involved with the Magdalene program, a housing program for survivors of s*x slavery.
"I felt a lot of joy seeing the women in the program, but also a lot of righteous anger," Judd told PEOPLE in January.
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Source: http://www.people.com/article/ashley-judd-writes-personal-essay-gender-violence
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