Osman Khalid Butt comes out in support of Jami

Pakistani actor Osman Khalid Butt has spoken out in support of filmmaker Jami Mahmood, who recently opened up about his #MeToo account disclosing that he was raped 13 years ago.

Butt took to Twitter to voice his concern about gender stereotypes and the way society shies away from openly talking about sexual harassment and rape.

Also Read:  Filmmaker Jami says he was raped 13 years ago

“In conversation over dinner three days ago, the subject of Jami and his recent, horrific rape allegations came up,” the actor wrote on the social media, “What was astonishing to me was that every man on that table freely admitted to have been sexually harassed in one way or the other.”

He added that men are taught to suppress the shame and stigma that comes after they are violated. “I say ‘shame’, because in a society like ours, where sexual harassment is already underreported, admitting that something like this happened to you makes you a lesser man.”

Men, he added, are told to be tough, to be able to resist and to be able to protect themselves. “Social norms have fed us so many lies about our gender: the dominant, the aggressive and the resilient sex – one act of sexual assault and these notions come tumbling down.”

Butt than wrote that Jami was “immensely brave” for speaking out as a survivor.

Also Read:  Meesha Shafi expresses solidarity with Jami: 'I see you. I hear you'

“You story has resonated with so many men, men who are finally ready to acknowledge the ordeals they went through.”

Last week, the filmmaker revealed the details of his harrowing experience. He wrote, in a series of tweets, that he was brutally raped by a powerful man 13 years.