Hollywood actor Ashley Judd who is in the Capital, as a part of the World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls initiative, spoke at length about gender discrimination, and said that she too has been a victim of sexual harassment.

“I was molested when I was 7 years old. I was raped at 14, and then I was raped in 1998. It’s a miracle that I wasn’t trafficked,” she said. The 48-year-old has been in India for the last one week as a part of the initiative. At the press conference, the actor sported mehendi on her right palm, and greeted everyone with a Namaste. At the end of her five-minute speech, she spoke in Hindi and urged everyone to rise against sexual exploitation, and decriminalising of prostituted women and girls. “Ab samjhauta nahi,” she said.

Hollywood has often been accused of discriminating against women. Ashley shared, “ There is a big pay gap in Hollywood, because of gender discrimination, and my life time earnings are 40 % less than what I should have earned, had there been pay equality in the industry.” Source: HT