<p>The hard-hitting British television series <em>I May Destroy You</em>, which depicts the impact of a sexual assault on a young woman, has won praise from real-life survivors of sexual violence.</p>.<p>The show, nominated for several of the UK's prestigious Bafta TV awards handed out Sunday, chronicles a successful young black blogger and novelist piecing together details of the attack she suffered while at a London bar with friends.</p>.<p>The series "changed my life", said Karan Tripathi, a 25-year-old Indian man who was sexually harassed at work.</p>.<p>It was only after watching the show that he acknowledged he was a victim, Tripathi said.</p>.<p>The series, which aired on the <em>BBC</em> and <em>HBO</em> in 2020, was written and directed by Michaela Coel, who also stars as the heroine Arabella. It is largely based on Coel's own life experiences.</p>.<p>In a dozen intense episodes, Coel spares no blushes with her frank depiction of banal yet violent encounters.</p>.<p>The show raises questions about the notion of sexual consent, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community, and strikes a powerful chord with survivors of violence.</p>.<p>Tripathi said the show helped him see he was a victim after a superior at work sexually harassed him and demanded favours from him.</p>.<p>"In my head I was like 'Okay, does it even qualify... Because at that moment I froze. I just couldn't do anything. I couldn't resist," recalled Tripathi, who is gay.</p>.<p>"The show's helped me to answer that question," he added, noting in India there is no legal recognition that a man can suffer sexual harassment.</p>.<p>The show "gave me the courage to, you know, own up to things that I felt would make me vulnerable," he said.</p>.<p>"It gave me a voice, it gave me a language, it gave me the grammar to talk about sexual harassment."</p>.<p>Tripathi learnt of the show from discussion in social media when it failed to win any nominations for the US Golden Globes awarded in March, despite calls for greater diversity.</p>.<p>However, Sunday's Bafta TV ceremony will see the show nominated in six categories.</p>.<p>Coel is nominated for best actress, while Paapa Essiedu is nominated for best actor for his performance as Arabella's gay best friend who himself has experienced sexual assault by a Grindr date.</p>.<p>The acclaim for the show is well-deserved, said Marie Albert, a 26-year-old French journalist and feminist.</p>.<p>"I don't remember ever seeing anything so empowering before," she said, adding that it made her "feel really justified in demanding justice" over sexual attacks against her.</p>.<p>Albert said that after watching the show, she gathered up the courage to report the assaults in February, realising she "could not go back to life as it was before".</p>.<p>Albert said she reported incidents of domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment at work.</p>.<p>She also reported she had been raped, something she only acknowledged while watching an episode of the show about "stealthing", when the heroine's partner removes a condom during sex without her knowledge.</p>.<p>While sexual violence is "far too often... used as a plot device to elicit drama", this show is "helpful and inspiring for survivors", said a spokesman for The Survivors' Trust, a British umbrella agency for rape and sexual abuse services.</p>.<p>The show portrays its heroine Arabella as "flawed and realistic", he added, rather than making her "the typical victim stereotype".</p>.<p>The show's finale is a "cathartic experience", according to the spokesman, sending the message that "although we cannot change the events that happen to us, we can move past them in our own way".</p>.<p>Albert said: "These aren't stereotyped situations of assault, but the banal situations that I've been in," stressing that these are shown "with a lot of nuance, so that an attacker can in turn be assaulted."</p>.<p>Tripathi also praised the series for depicting events in a way that is "authentic" and "just the way it is".</p>.<p>The show "transcends cultures," he added.</p>
<p>The hard-hitting British television series <em>I May Destroy You</em>, which depicts the impact of a sexual assault on a young woman, has won praise from real-life survivors of sexual violence.</p>.<p>The show, nominated for several of the UK's prestigious Bafta TV awards handed out Sunday, chronicles a successful young black blogger and novelist piecing together details of the attack she suffered while at a London bar with friends.</p>.<p>The series "changed my life", said Karan Tripathi, a 25-year-old Indian man who was sexually harassed at work.</p>.<p>It was only after watching the show that he acknowledged he was a victim, Tripathi said.</p>.<p>The series, which aired on the <em>BBC</em> and <em>HBO</em> in 2020, was written and directed by Michaela Coel, who also stars as the heroine Arabella. It is largely based on Coel's own life experiences.</p>.<p>In a dozen intense episodes, Coel spares no blushes with her frank depiction of banal yet violent encounters.</p>.<p>The show raises questions about the notion of sexual consent, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community, and strikes a powerful chord with survivors of violence.</p>.<p>Tripathi said the show helped him see he was a victim after a superior at work sexually harassed him and demanded favours from him.</p>.<p>"In my head I was like 'Okay, does it even qualify... Because at that moment I froze. I just couldn't do anything. I couldn't resist," recalled Tripathi, who is gay.</p>.<p>"The show's helped me to answer that question," he added, noting in India there is no legal recognition that a man can suffer sexual harassment.</p>.<p>The show "gave me the courage to, you know, own up to things that I felt would make me vulnerable," he said.</p>.<p>"It gave me a voice, it gave me a language, it gave me the grammar to talk about sexual harassment."</p>.<p>Tripathi learnt of the show from discussion in social media when it failed to win any nominations for the US Golden Globes awarded in March, despite calls for greater diversity.</p>.<p>However, Sunday's Bafta TV ceremony will see the show nominated in six categories.</p>.<p>Coel is nominated for best actress, while Paapa Essiedu is nominated for best actor for his performance as Arabella's gay best friend who himself has experienced sexual assault by a Grindr date.</p>.<p>The acclaim for the show is well-deserved, said Marie Albert, a 26-year-old French journalist and feminist.</p>.<p>"I don't remember ever seeing anything so empowering before," she said, adding that it made her "feel really justified in demanding justice" over sexual attacks against her.</p>.<p>Albert said that after watching the show, she gathered up the courage to report the assaults in February, realising she "could not go back to life as it was before".</p>.<p>Albert said she reported incidents of domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment at work.</p>.<p>She also reported she had been raped, something she only acknowledged while watching an episode of the show about "stealthing", when the heroine's partner removes a condom during sex without her knowledge.</p>.<p>While sexual violence is "far too often... used as a plot device to elicit drama", this show is "helpful and inspiring for survivors", said a spokesman for The Survivors' Trust, a British umbrella agency for rape and sexual abuse services.</p>.<p>The show portrays its heroine Arabella as "flawed and realistic", he added, rather than making her "the typical victim stereotype".</p>.<p>The show's finale is a "cathartic experience", according to the spokesman, sending the message that "although we cannot change the events that happen to us, we can move past them in our own way".</p>.<p>Albert said: "These aren't stereotyped situations of assault, but the banal situations that I've been in," stressing that these are shown "with a lot of nuance, so that an attacker can in turn be assaulted."</p>.<p>Tripathi also praised the series for depicting events in a way that is "authentic" and "just the way it is".</p>.<p>The show "transcends cultures," he added.</p>