Speaking Out Against 'Slut Shaming'

"Teen confidential "continues. Once again, elizabeth vargas. There is an explosive new phrase that's making its way into the vocabulary of teenagers this year. It is "slut-shaming." And it nearly tore... See More

"Teen confidential "continues. Once again, elizabeth vargas. There is an explosive new phrase that's making its way into the vocabulary of teenagers this year. It is "slut-shaming." And it nearly tore apart one girl's life, making national headlines. I sat down with her just this week. These are the sounds you might typically hear in the hallways of a busy high school. But on one early morning in april of this year, this is what the students at george washington high school in charleston, west virginia, were hearing. Oral sex is sex. Don't you dare tell anyone you're a virgin! Reporter: Nearly 1,000 students on their first day back from spring break, sat in an assembly in disbelief. As this provocative christian speaker, pam stenzel, preached to them about practicing abstinence. Let me tell you something. I'm pretty sure I know about you. Reporter: Stenzel is an internationally recognized, highly-paid lecturer. Keep your pants on! Reporter: Brash and absolutely unabashed, she travels the world, speaking to more than a half million young people each year about what she says is the importance of self-restraint. If you are here today and you're a virgin, can I say this to you just in case you don't hear it again. Good for you. Good for you! Reporter: But one 18-year-old honor student named katelyn campbell was so outraged by the tone of the speech, she gave it a very loaded label. Slut shaming. Slut shaming was just the word in the vernacular of gw and the -- Reporter: It wasn't -- that you were saying it. You were coining the vernacular. As you put it? Yeah. I mean, it's -- it's your prerogative who you wanna have sex with. It's none of my business. Reporter: Slut-shaming is the modern-day scarlet letter. Usually teens calling out other sexually active teens. And mostly online. In this case, katelyn couldn't believe the arrows were being slung by an adult hired to speak to her school about sex. The tone in her videos was really combative. It just seemed like she was going out to get anyone who'd already had sex. Reporter: This wasn't just any student. Katelyn is a student body vice president. Her 4.8 gpa earned her a chance to speak at graduation, and a scholarship to wellesley college in the fall. Yet the decision to speak out against stenzel would turn this once-popular student into a pariah. It started out with people saying, you know, "she's a slut, she's a liar, she's doing this for attention. I bet she's being about skin innocent, but not by choice." Reporter: Arguably, she was already outnumbered. West virginia is known for two extremes. The antics of those hard-partying college kids on the reality show "buck wild." Being a country boy in west virginia is like living in one big play ground. Reporter: And its deeply devout conservative roots. There's certainly a very religious, very pro-abstinence group in my community who really does believe that method is effective. Reporter: Her crew crusade began the night before stenzel's speech. She had gotten a tip from a teacher who had seen this flier. One of the key lines was that pam stenzel will be coming to gw to discuss god's plan for sexual purity. And gw is a public school, which is really what threw me for a loop. Reporter: What katelyl didn't note that was that the visit was funded by a conservative christian group, believe in west virginia. Buff she found pam's videos on youtube and that was enough to set her off. You are doing it before you watch the aisle, you're going to do it after. Past behavior predicts future behavior. This isn't rocket science. This is an sane. Reporter: Here's her message for daughters that put their daughter on the pill. This girl could end up sterile or dead. Reporter: Katelyn decided to boycott stenzel's talk at the school. She recorded it on the iphone. You are scarred for life. Reporter: She couldn't believe your ears. You've got all this scar tissue. You have pelvic inflammatory disease. She just axccelerated and got really loud and kind of abrasive. Reporter: It is unconscionable that anyone in this gim would ever have sex with another human being and not honestly tell that person everywhere you've been. Reporter: She's very aggressive and very strong and forceful in her condemnation of anybody having premarital sex. For her to tell people that if you've had sex before you're mare. Reporter:ED, YOU'RE IMPURE, There's nothing you can do about it, you're screwed for life was just like -- what are you saying? Reporter: According to carly, the assembly sparked plenty of anger and even some tears. She's sitting there telling us that we're trash and we're useless if we've had sex before. School is supposed to be a place where you are safe, not where you should be shamed for what you have or haven't done. Reporter: You know west virginia does have one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy. Number nine. Reporter: Some may argue that the speech might help a couple teenagers avoid making a bad decision. I mean, it very well might. If you are afraid of having sex, then you probably won't. But I think there's a better, more scientific way to address sex than saying, just don't do it. Reporter: After seeing her friend so distraught, she went to the media and gave about interview to the local newspaper. It landed her in the principal's office and she says he was furious. How would you feel if i called your college and I told them what pad character you have and what a back stabber you are. Reporter: Your principal said this to you? Yes. Reporter: Did you feel this was a real threat? I did. Reporter: She was afraid of losing her $25,000 annual scholarship. But that didn't stop her from stirring up the hornet's nest. Her story went nation. She appeared on cnn, and in "seventeen." Magazine. Scared off in court today. Reporter: And she took the threat so seriously, she filed an injunction against him and the school board to prevent them from retaliating against her. Including calling the school? Yes. Are you ever going to retaliate against miss campbell? I wouldn't rettaliate against any kid. Reporter: But that's when she says the community turned against her. There was even a facebook page. As I walked down the hallway, everybody went silent. One of the football players actually spied on me it was really gross. Reporter: You are shocked at all that people would respond this way? I mean, I understood from the beginning that it was a really difficult issue. But I never expected people to outright dislike me for that. Reporter: We reached out to the principal and the school superintendant. Neither of whom would talk to "20/20." So, we went to the school board president to ask who okayed pam's visit to the school. That is a mystery. I know that she was paid for privately. Reporter: You don't have any idea who at the school actually decided to have her come and speak to the entire school in an assembly? If I was put on the stand and put under oath, I really don't know. Reporter: Next time, it won't be a mystery, thanks to katelyn's fight. The school board has passed a policy. From now on, any speecher on religion or sex must be okayed by the school board. She's a hero. She is a girl who knew in her heart that she was right, who stood up for her beliefs, who stood up to authority. When she was at risk. Reporter: Pam stenzel declined our invitation for an intervie she continues to speak around the country. As for katelyn, she doesn't intend to keep silent, either. While he injunction against the school was denied, her scholarship is still guaranteed. How much did it mean to get that kind of support? It was exactly the validation I needed. Reporter: Just last week, she received a national student leadership award and she hopes to one day become a lawyer for the american civil liberties union. I feel like I've been given a unique position to be a vehicle for social change. I have the mike. I may as well use it. So, what do you think about what katelyn did or about the speaker? Whose side are you on? Let us know using #abc2020. We'll be right back. Next -- they're living the