Hollywood actress Ashley Judd recently opened up about her history of sexual harassment and rape. At the World Congress Against Exploitation of Girls and Women in Delhi, the 48-year-old actress spoke about prostitution and sexual exploitation of women. The event was organised by Apne Aap and CAP international (Coalition for Abolition of Prostitution).
Ashley Judd had previously penned down the memories of the brutal rape and incest in a memoir, All That Is Bitter and Sweet. Judd, who is also the goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund, was raped twice at the age of 14. She revealed that her first encounter with sexual abuse goes back to the age of seven. She was incested by a relative’s husband and claimed there could be more incidences from before that are lost to her due to traumatic amnesia.
As horrifying as her story is, this is not the first time a Hollywood celebrity has come out in the open to speak about the horrors of sexual assault. In the past, several other actors have revealed they were raped at some point.
Lady Gaga
The 30-year-old pop star revealed in a 2014 interview that she was raped when she was 19. The incident scarred her and she developed post-traumatic stress disorder afterwards. She went through therapy to be able to deal with the emotional trauma.
Anne Heche
The Six Days, Seven Nights actress faced a horrifying sexual assault by her homosexual father. She was raped by her own biological dad from infancy to the age of 12. As a result of the abuse, she contacted genital herpes. She says her father was sexually abusive because he had a hard time dealing with his own sexuality. He died of AIDS in 1983.
Tyler Perry
The 47-year-old actor was raped by both male and female members of his family. Perry calls the day he was raped, the “day he died.” He says he contemplated suicide after his experience and has spoken about it at the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Oprah Winfrey
The world famous talk show host has had to deal with an awful childhood. Oprah Winfrey was raped by her cousin when she was just 9. Later, she was sexually abused by several of her close relatives, including her mother’s boyfriend, and at the age 14, she even got pregnant. Her child died shortly after a premature birth.
Teri Hatcher
The Desperate Housewives actress was raped by her uncle at the age of 5. The sexual abuse continued for several years. She couldn’t speak out her uncle’s criminal acts until he raped another 14-year-old girl who committed suicide.
Scott Weiland
American singer Scott Weiland opened up about being a rape victim in his 2011 memoir titled Not Dead & Not For Sale. He was 12 when a high school senior invited him to his house and raped him. He suppressed the memory of the incident out of fear of isolation at school.
Madonna
The Queen of Pop has been quite vocal about facing sexual abuse and in a 2013 interview, she revealed that after moving to New York City, she was raped at gunpoint at the rooftop of a building. Although she did mention her age at the time, she must have been around 20 as she moved to NYC in 1977. The incident completely shook her. “The episode was a taste of my weakness, it showed me that I still could not save myself in spite of all the strong-girl show. I could never forget it,” she said.
Tom Arnold
The actor/comedian was raped by his babysitter when he was little. The sexual abuse carried on for some time until he protested it. The abuser threatened to shoot Arnold’s father following which, Tom created havoc by carrying his dad’s gun into the neighbourhood. The abuse stopped and the man moved out soon after.
Rose McGowan
In October last year, the Charmed actress claimed that she was raped by a top Hollywood executive. She listed out the reasons for not reporting her rapist in a series of tweets. “A (female) criminal attorney said because I’d done a sex scene in a film I would never win against the studio head,” she wrote. In another tweet, she said, “Because my ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution.”
Evan Rachel Wood
In a letter she wrote to the Rolling Stone, the Westworld actress revealed that she was raped more than once. “Yes. I have been raped. By a significant other while we were together. And on a separate occasion, by the owner of a bar,” she wrote.
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