Actress Ashley Judd Reveals She Was 'Molested At 7, Raped At 14'

New Delhi: Actress and activist Ashley Judd revealed while visiting India that she had been sexually abused more than once, since she was as young as seven. Ms Judd, 48, was speaking at the World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls in New Delhi. The star of films like Double Jeopardy and A Time To Kill, Ashley Judd said she survived sexual violence and had been molested at seven, raped at 14 and then again in 1998, reported news agency ANI. She also spoke about gender inequality, alleging that as a female actor, she made 40% less than male co-stars. Ms Judd, who is among the celebrities who have publicly opposed American President Donald Trump's policies, also said that her home country falls short on gender equality, reported ANI.
 

I'm a survivor of gender&sexual violence: Actor Ashley Judd at World Congress against sexual exploitation of women&Girls,Delhi earlier today pic.twitter.com/YUKIj032j1

— ANI (@ANI_news) January 30, 2017

 

I was molested for the first time at the age of seven, experienced rapes at the age of 14 & in 1998: Hollywood actor Ashley Judd pic.twitter.com/L2DD9PYThi

— ANI (@ANI_news) January 30, 2017

 

Reality is my lifetime earnings are 40 % less, simply because I am a female: Hollywood actor Ashley Judd pic.twitter.com/7qnZrInXp3

— ANI (@ANI_news) January 30, 2017

 

I love my country (United States) & my country has a long way to go in obtaining full equality for girls and women: Ashley Judd pic.twitter.com/sGstLIEH96

— ANI (@ANI_news) January 30, 2017

Ashley Judd, daughter of country music star Naomi Judd, previously revealed that she had been sexually harassed by a Hollywood studio executive. In 2015, she told Mirror that when she was filming Kiss The Girls in the late Nineties - one of Hollywood's top bosses - summoned her to his hotel room and asked her to watch him shower.

"I was sexually harassed by one of our industry's most famous, admired-slash-reviled bosses. He was very stealth and expert about it. He groomed me, which is a technical term - 'Oh, come meet at the hotel for something to eat'. It went on in these stages. It was so disgusting," Ms Judd said.

Later, she discovered that other actresses had been similarly harassed by the executive, whom she did not name. "Only when we were sitting around talking about it did we realise our experiences were identical. There was a mutual strengthening and fortification of our resolve. The ultimate thing when I was weaselling out of everything else was, 'Will you watch me take a shower?' And all the other women, sitting around this table with me, said, 'Oh my god - that's what he said to me too'," Ashley Judd told Mirror.

Ms Judd, who visited Kolkata on her way to New Delhi, was last seen in 2016's Good Kids. Ashley Judd's other recent film appearances include Olympus Has Fallen, Tooth Fairy, The Divergent Series and the Dolphin Tale films. She has featured in a number of TV shows like Missing, Norma Jean & Marilyn and Sisters.