Emily Atack has opened up about the horrific rape threats and explicit images she receives from men via social media.
Emily Atack
The 31-year-old actress has claimed that she receives thousands of disgusting and violent messages every week from men on the internet, some of whom are married and have families, according to their profiles.
In an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper, she said: "It’s absolutely gross. People think they can say whatever they like, because they know they will get away with it.
“Some of these men are married with children. They’ve got daughters in their profile pictures and things like that.
“How can you sleep at night knowing you’ve just tucked your daughters into bed, probably helped them with their homework, and then you’re sneakily going onto your phone [and sending that sort of message]?”
The former 'I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' revealed that it was five years ago that one vile troll eerily described details of her living room and then messaged her: "I'm going to rape you, I'm going to kill you."
Detailing the terrifying incident, she said: "Someone broke into my house around that time. And it was terrifying, and the police just hit a dead end. They said, ‘There’s nothing we can do because we can’t go any further with it.’ They tried."
Emily - who first found fame playing Charlotte Hinchcliffe in sitcom 'The Inbetweeners' - has called for social media companies to do more to protect users from these sorts of threats and harassment.
Admitting she cannot simply log off social media because of her TV career, she said: "We use social media now like we use streets: it should be a safer space.
"I am a woman on my own and I’m in my thirties, and it’s a trigger point because you receive messages like that.
"I can’t help but wonder, if I was in a secure marriage or whatever, whether it would still happen to me."
Tagged in Emily Atack