Last year B-town saw a number of women opening up about their sexual harassment stories. This sparked the #MeToo movement across our country. More recently, Swara Bhasker shared her sexual harassment story at &PriveHD’s panel discussion after the screening of Weinstein: The Inside Story. The Nil Battey Sannata actress talked about how she didn’t know she was a victim of harassment until some else shared their experience. Without taking any names, she revealed that she had an unpleasant experience but managed to just about escape it.
She said:
It took me 6-8 years to realise… when I heard someone else talk about their experience of harassment at a panel discussion like this. I was like God, what happened to me 3 years ago was actually sexual harassment at the workplace! I never realised it because, like you said, I escaped. Because the person did not touch me and I managed to ward it off.
She further said that it was difficult for her to realise it because she did not recognise the discomfort.
As a culture, we do not teach our girl children to recognise predatory behaviour for what it is.
She also mentioned that there was so much silence around sexual harassment not only in India but everywhere around the world, that we do not recognise it.
Do you agree with what Swara has to say? Do let us know in the comments below.