Teen Rape Survivor Daisy Coleman Of The Documentary Audrie & Daisy Dies By Suicide

Daisy Coleman, a sexual assault survivors at 14, has been found dead. She has reportedly died by suicide, her grieving mother said. Daisy was one of two teen rape survivors whose story was the subject of the Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy in 2016. Daisy Coleman turned 23 this year.

Her mother, Melinda Moeller Coleman wrote on Facebook: “My daughter Catherine Daisy Coleman committed suicide tonight. If you saw crazy / messages and posts it was because I called the police to check on her.” She also confirmed the tragic news to TMZ and told police that she found her daughter's body. “She was my best friend and amazing daughter … I wish I could have taken the pain from her! She never recovered from what those boys did to her and it’s just not fair. My baby girl is gone,” the mother further wrote.

Daisy became an advocate for the sexual assault survivors after her story made headlines back in 2012. She was just 14, when she was allegedly raped at a party in Maryville, Missouri, by a 17-year-old boy, Matthew Barnett. The entire incident was reportedly recorded by another boy on his phone. Barnett, the grandson of a former Republican state representative, had allegedly raped her and left her outside in freezing temperatures. He was later arrested and charged with felony sexual assault, which was later dropped. He was then charged with a small case of endangerment of a minor and ultimately sentenced to four months in jail.

What You Should Know

• Rape survivor Daisy Coleman has died by suicide.
• Daisy Coleman spoke of being bullied after the incident but the charge against the teenage boy she accused was dropped.
• The award-winning 2016 Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy featured her story, highlighting the ruthless bullying faced by teenaged assault survivors.

“To all those who supported me, I promise that what happened on January 8th, 2012, will not define me forever,” Daisy Coleman had said after Barnett's guilty plea in 2014, according to the Rolling Stone.

Also Read: Let’s not skirt the issue of sexual violence

Daisy Coleman's story was highlighted in a film

Daisy talked about being bullied after the incident, BBC reported. She also claimed that her family had to move out of Maryville after they started receiving threats and was the centre of harassment in school. People were “calling me a bitch, a whore, and a slut every single day,” Daisy wrote. One Fox News guest claimed that she had “expected” to get raped. Her mother also explained how she was fired from a job at a local veterinary clinic over the scandal, Buzzfeed reported. Her home was also burned down and in 2014, she was hospitalised following an attempted suicide.

Later, the award-winning 2016 Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy featured her story, highlighting the ruthless bullying faced by teenaged assault survivors. Audrie Pott, who was also featured in the documentary ended her life in September 2012 following a sexual assault incident. Her nude photos were posted online. Audrie was 15.

Daisy also co-founded a nonprofit organisation called the SafeBae (Before Anyone Else) to help prevent sexual assault in schools. “I definitely feel like people have certain views and perceptions about me and about cases like this because they’re uneducated,” she told People in 2017. “That’s exactly why I’m going out and trying to educate people on what’s going on in our society.”

"She had many coping demons and had been facing and overcoming them all, but as many of you know, healing is not a straight path or any easy one. She fought longer and harder than we will ever know," said the SafeBae team in a statement on Wednesday. They further said that Daisy would want the survivors "to know they are heard, they matter, they are loved, and there are places for them to get the help they need".

https://www.facebook.com/AudrieandDaisy/photos/a.1548286465490927/1548281842158056/

Also read: Equating Safety with Clothing: The wrong and right of things

Feature Image Credit: WHIO

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