Sophie Turner defends Sansa Stark assault scene in 'Game of Thrones', as portrayal of women’s struggles

Sophie Turner says her 'Game of Thrones' role highlighted women’s struggles and would now require trigger warnings.

Sophie Turner has defended the controversial storyline involving her character Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, saying the HBO series highlighted women’s struggles, though it would likely require trigger warnings if released today.

Speaking to Flaunt magazine, Turner said: “I did feel — and still do — that Game of Thrones shone a light on things that many people were like ‘Oh god, you can’t show that kind of thing’ — and I understand it can be triggering — I totally understand that point of view. But I did feel we were actually doing a lot of justice to women and the fight women have had to fight for hundreds of thousands of years — the patriarchy, being treated as objects and being constantly sexually assaulted — I don’t think there’s one woman I know who hasn’t had a form of that.”

Turner added: “I think if Game of Thrones came out today, we’d definitely put some trigger warnings on there. But I’m really proud to have been a part of Game of Thrones where they didn’t shy away from showing atrocities that happened to women back then. I feel proud to have been part of the conversation.”

The Season 5 episode “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” showed Sansa being assaulted by Ramsay Bolton, with Theon Greyjoy forced to watch. The scene, which did not appear in George R. R. Martin’s books, caused backlash from viewers who accused the show of excessive violence against women.

At the time, Turner told Comic-Con audiences that Sansa’s strength lay in her resilience and ability to learn from other women in the story. Producer Bryan Cogman also defended the scene, telling Entertainment Weekly it reflected “the reality of the situation” within the world of the show.