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Home / Entertainment

Jameela Jamil victim of sexual misconduct at 6, many times since

NZ Herald
2 Apr, 2019 07:50 PM3 mins to read

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Actress Jameela Jamil. Photo / Getty Images

Actress Jameela Jamil. Photo / Getty Images

WARNING: Graphic content.

Jameela Jamil was a victim of sexual misconduct when she was just six years old.

The 'Good Place' actress - who has previously revealed she was date raped when she was 22 - was also "groped" when she was 11, intimately injured when she was 14 and has been subjected to a string of unwanted sexual advances over the years, as well as numerous sexual threats online.

She told Britain's Grazia magazine: "I was six the first time a man showed sexual interest in me, 11 the first time I was groped, I was 12 when a 40 year old man grabbed my vagina on Oxford street in my school uniform at 3.30pm, so hard and for so long, that I bled and had to throw both of us against a wall to get him off.

"10 different men in different cities have masturbated at me on public transport. Three different people have ejaculated on my leg as a teenager on my way to school going up the escalator at the tube.

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"I've been groped maybe 20 times at rush hour, I've been raped. I've been followed. I've been stalked.

"I've been chased by groups of men I've had to outrun to save my life. I've been assaulted just for saying no to a man's phone number. I've been blackmailed in business in pursuit of sex.

"And I deal with constant rape and death threats on social media in my career. "

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But the 33-year-old star thinks the "scariest" aspect of her experience is that she isn't alone.

She added: "And the scariest thing is that, most of my friends have had the same experiences. Mine is not a special circumstance."

Jameela now wants to "hypernormalise" it for women to call out such behaviour and change the ingrained belief that people "shouldn't be causing a fuss" by speaking up.

She said: "When things like this happen, things that are linked to a much bigger problem, I like to open these discussions on social media. Firstly I think it's important to hypernormalise sharing and whistleblowing, as we have been encouraged for too long to keep this stuff secret and suffer alone, but also, my doing it encourages other women to come forward about their experiences, which creates a union between us, and it is an extraordinarily powerful way for men to see, in clear numbers, and in graphic detail, how many of us are subjected to a living hell at the hands of far too many men.

"It always creates an interesting, empathetic and educational dialogue between the genders, and I've noticed more and more men on my timeline want to get involved in becoming allies during this discourse."

Safe to talk is available for free 24/7.
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-Bang! Showbiz

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