Ayesha Omar Shares Harrowing Sexual Assault Story With Rose McGowan

Ayesha Omer is a prominent Pakistani actress, model, singer, and painter. She is one of the country's most popular and highest-paid actresses and is often considered as a Style Icon.

In 2019, Ayesha Omar was awarded the Tamgha-e-Fakhr-e-Pakistan by the Warsi International Organisation.

Meanwhile, Rose McGowan is an American actress, activist, author, director, and singer. A feminist activist, McGowan has released a memoir, Brave, and starred in the four-part documentary series Citizen Rose, both in 2018. In 2017, Time recognized her as one of the Silence Breakers, the magazine's Person of the Year, for speaking out about sexual assault and harassment.

Must Read: Ayesha Omar Is Looking Forward To A Valuable Friendship With Esra Bilgic

The powerful duo took to Instagram for a live session where they both relived and shared their harrowing past experiences related to sexual assault and harassment.

Rose McGowan is considered one of the first people who went toe to toe with the Hollywood mafia when she bravely accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her.

The convicted rapist and disgraced Hollywood mogul was later sentenced to 23 years in prison when multiple women came forward with their stories of sexual assault at the hands of Harvey Weinstein.

During the Instagram Live session, Rose McGowan told Ayesha Omar:

I always had a voice, just no one was listening. I was waiting for society to be ready. I needed Trump. Hilary Clinton protected Weinstein in a major way. I needed Trump to show people this is racism, sexism, and this is what ugliness really looks like."

She revealed how menacing the entire situation was and how she was left with no friends to support her through that terrible ordeal. 

It was at that moment when Ayesha Omar finally spoke up about her harrowing past experience with an unknown man. She said:

“A huge powerful man, twice my age. I had just entered the industry, I was this young 23-year-old, fresh out of college, and bam, this started happening. And it went on for years. It wasn't a one-off incident, and I just didn't want to process it. I put in a box, and I said okay, this is happening in my life, I have to deal with it.”

This shows how rotten the entertainment industry is and how it needs quick and effective reforms so that young and aspiring women do not have to deal with this kind of monstrosity in the future.

Ayesha Omar continued: 

“I didn't want to share it with anybody. I let it stay there for 15 years, and I finally spoke about it to someone two years ago. A friend of mine from the industry also came out with her story, and TV channels started calling me up and asking 'Do you think she's telling the truth?'"

Ayesha noted how people in the sub-continent are quick to blame the victim rather than the aggressor and this is why so many women are afraid to speak up.

 

 

 

 

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. In 2017, Rose McGowan decided to break the silence about Hollywood and one of the most powerful men in it, Harvey Weinstein. She decided to tell her story to the world. Did the world believe her? Not really. As is the case with most silence breakers. “Time” magazine, though recognised her as one of the Silence Breakers and their Person of the year, for speaking out about sexual harassment/assault. Soon after, several other actresses started sharing their stories of assault by the same monster. Her book “Brave” tells her story in her own voice. A singular voice that stands in a large arena full of women with similar stories of assault and rape. . In my eyes, Rose is one of the bravest women in the world today. I have watched several of her interviews and the way she articulates her feelings, emotions and thoughts is mesmerising. She hits the nail on the spot. Every single time. Rose is also an angry woman. A woman who allows herself to feel and feels no need to justify her emotions to anyone. Her fight is to allow all women in society to feel angry for what they have been through. For what they have been made to go through. Two years ago, I finally allowed myself to acknowledge and talk about my own sexual harassment story by a powerful monster, twice my age. When Rose agreed to go live with me, I felt I was dreaming. It was unreal. I thought non-stop about everything that I wanted to ask her, everything that I wanted to tell her about Pakistan. But she’s been asked everything and she’s answered everything.... that’s why I decided to chat with Rose about how she is doing right now, at this moment in her life, let the conversation flow freely.... and it did... it was real and honest, probably uncomfortable for some.... I did think of some solid questions to ask but never got around to them... they are all still floating in my head. We plan to go live again in a week, and this time go deeper into the various layers and constructs of societies all over the world. Would love for you all to join. Until next time folks! ????????‍♀️✨❤️ . . #ayeshaomar #rosemcgowan #metoo #feminism #feminist #womensupportingwomen #timesup #speakup #crazy #keepitreal #hereandnow

A post shared by Ayesha Omar (@ayesha.m.omar) on Jul 31, 2020 at 12:06am PDT

Ayesha Omar concluded by saying:

“They asked me if sexual harassment happens in the industry and that's the first time I said yes. They asked if it happened to you, and I said yes. I will talk about it someday, but not today. I still haven't named my monster but I've started talking about it." 

When brave celebrities like Ayesha Omar speak up about their harrowing past experiences, it gives young girls the power to speak up as well. We certainly hope that the culture in the industry changes for the better.

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