Soma Sara's Everyone's Invited: The Instagram post that launched a movement

Video and words by Jocelyn Evans, ITV News' Here's The Story

This article and the above video contains references to and descriptions of rape and sexual assault, as well as other testimonies readers may find upsetting.

Two years ago, Soma Sara began sharing her experiences of rape culture on Instagram.

She triggered a movement, Everyone's Invited, which gave survivors an anonymous space to share their stories.

More than 50,000 testimonies have been submitted since then, triggering an Ofsted review into how schools in England handle sexual abuse and issues relating to it.

Another 50,000 testimonies are being worked through by the charity's team of volunteers. For now, submissions have been paused while the charity attempts to catch up with the staggering scale of stories being shared from around the world.

"The fight is never over," founder Soma Sara says.

"There tends to be a lot of attention that gets placed around this area. There's a big moment where people speak out and there's talk of action and change, and then it feels like things move forward and it's a little bit forgotten."

One look at our own coverage proves her point. The last time I spoke to Soma was in the aftermath of Sarah Everard's murder in March 2021. The charity was once again discussed in our coverage of Zara Aleena's murder in June 2022.

The headlines change and newsrooms move onto another issue, before inevitably another case of violence against women refocuses the spotlight once more.

Everyone's Invited, meanwhile, continues its commitment to exposing and eradicating rape culture.

"Through platforming testimonies, it's about showing how universal and widespread these issues really are. They're not isolated incidents, they happen all the time, everyday," Soma says.

"We feel that we have done the exposing, and we're now really doing our best to find those solutions and actually make a change".

That comes in the form of targeted information posts on their socials (whether it be the start of a new term, needle spiking, consent - the list goes on), education packages, and even a book of essays, also called Everyone's Invited.

Empathy is at the heart of their approach, Soma says.

"If you want to make a change, you need to engage with the backlash. You need to have the empathy to find the common ground, bridge opposing viewpoints, speak to people and listen."

But can we bridge those gaps that seem unfathomable? I asked Soma about the rise in social media personalities built on misogyny, namely, Andrew Tate.

It's about having empathy for the audiences consuming that content, Soma says.

"Boys and young men are particularly vulnerable to radicalisation and indoctrination at the moment. Social media has definitely accelerated that process because of things like algorithms and the way that you can just be completely overwhelmed with discourse that is about subscribing to a very toxic form of masculinity.

"That does not allow the space for boys to talk about their mental health, to be emotional, to be vulnerable, to be human beings, to share their humanity with us. It's about killing off the emotional parts of themselves - which is devastating."

Everyone's Invited is for all, she says, and will continued its commitment to exposing and eradicating rape culture.

Everyone's Invited has a number of resources and guidance on accessing help and support services. Visit their help page for more.