Jada Pinkett-Smith says her niece was given a date rape drug

Jada Pinkett-Smith

Sexual assault is a serious problem in our country and one of the reasons the problem persists is because people don’t speak up about it.  Jada Pinkett Smith is doing a great service to women everywhere by talking about the issue, particularly in relation to the #JusticeforJada movement that has occurred around the country.

The movement started when Jada Smith, a 16-year old girl  chose to speak publicly about being assaulted and the ridiculed on social media.  Jada Pinkett Smith, who shares the same first and last name as the little girl who was attacked, made some comments about the issue on her Facebook page.

Speaking with US Magazine, the older Jada spoke about why the issue affected her so much.

“If you saw what I put on Facebook, you also saw that this could happen to any woman that we know, and the unfortunate part is that my niece was given a date-rape drug that weekend,” she tells Us. “Thank God—she’s 20—so thank God that nothing happened because she was with some responsible guys that took care of her, and with three of her friends … ”

Pinkett-Smith says that she had to speak with her daughter about the incident shortly after it occurred.

“I’m not a conventional parent, which I take a lot of pride in,” she said. “The first thing I had my niece do was sit down with my daughter and a couple of her friends and tell her about that experience. I don’t just sit with Willow and go, ‘Hey, this is what Mommy thinks.’ …

“What I do with Willow is I give her the opportunity to be empowered by having herself first.  Because when you allow a person to be an individual and you allow a person to have power within and have confidence on who they are, you’ll never have to look into the eyes of a man and question whether it’s a yes or a no. She’s gonna be very clear: No. She’s gonna be very clear: Yes. And she’s gonna be in a position to be able to determine how to protect herself. Know when you’re in danger. … ”

Date rape is a consistent concern for women, and occurs on many college campuses in particular.  Some of the ways to combat the problem are to teach men to avoid assaulting women and to teach women to avoid men who might harm them.  This could include making sure that you never leave your drink when you go out and avoiding becoming intoxicated when you’re not in a safe environment.

Deuteronomy 22:25

But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die.

Deuteronomy 23:17

There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.