Yesteryear’s actress Daisy Irani has revealed shocking details of being raped at the mere age of 6. Popularly known for her roles in Boot Polish, Naya Daur, Jagte Raho, the veteran actress, during an interview to Mumbai Mirror, talked about the sexual abuse prevalent in the film industry. She revealed that she was raped and then even hit with a belt in the hotel room and was threatened to be killed if she talked about it to anyone.

Sexual abuse in our country and across the world is something that’s very common but not openly talked about. There is still very less awareness spread about such topics and usually people refrain from discussing issues like these. However, Daisy isn’t the only actress to have opened up about sexual abuse. Several other actresses too have expressed how molestation, rape and victim shaming is to an extreme level in Bollywood and that a lot of actors shy away from talking about it.

Apart from Daisy Shah, here are 7 other Bollywood actresses who came out in open about sexual abuse.

Swara Bhaskar

Known for her unabashed behaviour, Swara has always been vocal about such topics. In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, she had explained how she faced the issue of sexual assault in industry and due to that she didn’t get many movies. She further revealed her own incident on how she was stalked in a shoot. “He stalked me during the day and called me through the night. I was asked to go to his hotel room on the pretext of discussing the scene and would find him drinking. During the first week itself, he started talking about love and sex and one night, arrived in my room, drunk, and asked to be hugged. It was scary.”

Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan had an unpleasant experience at Siddhivinayak Temple where a male fan tried to put his arm around her without her consent while taking a selfie. It obviously made her uncomfortable and she made that known to the fan. However, speaking on sexual harassment and molestation, the Tumhari Sulu actor told IANS that we should name and shame those who commit such acts. “I think people who have suffered this only know what exactly does it feel like when you’re really in an uncomfortable situation. When someone just rubs or touches you with his hand, sometimes I get really angry. So I think in that sense, there are a lot of degrees in sexual harassment,” she said.

Kangana Ranaut

The #MeToo campaign spread like fire on the internet and Kangana Ranaut too spoke up against such kinds of behaviour. She revealed that she was abused when she was just 17 by someone who was her father’s age. The shocking revelations were made at an event where journalist Barkha Dutt launched her book ‘This Unquiet Land’.

Kalki Koechlin

The Margarita With A Straw actress, who was sexually abused when she was nine years old. “The reason I spoke out about my sexual abuse is not to get people to feel sorry for me but to give others who have had similar circumstances the confidence to talk about it. I allowed someone to have sex with me at the age of nine, not understanding fully what it meant and my biggest fear after was that my mother would find out. I felt it was my mistake and so I kept it hidden for years. If I had had the confidence or awareness to confide in my parents it would have saved me years of complexes about my own sexuality. It’s important that parents remove the taboo around the word sex or private parts so kids can speak openly and be saved from potential abuse,” the actress was quoted as saying to a leading daily.

Neha Dhupia

Neha Dhupia was fortunate enough to have not faced any such issues during her childhood or her Bollywood journey but the actress strictly condemns those who don’t speak up on sexual harassment. “Staying quiet about sexual abuse is not brave, coming out and talking about it is. And I’m not going to protect the business by saying [sexual abuse] does not happen. I’m sure it happens. Let’s not kid ourselves. But it happens everywhere,” she had said recently.

We bet there are a lot of actors too who have been sexually abused in the film industry but haven’t chosen to speak up against it. With the rate of crimes increasing in our country, it is crucial that we start spreading awareness about issues like these to make the world a better place to live in.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2018 01:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).