Ayesha Omar sent shockwaves down the showbiz with her groundbreaking revelation of being harassed during the early days of her career.
During her Instagram interview with the BBC, Ayesha, along with a number of other prominent figureheads touched upon the rampant issue of rape and harassment within Pakistan and even dived into detail regarding the victim-blaming mentality that is heavily rooted within the crux of the culture.
The short clip began with Ayesha reiterating a number of questions that usually sprout up in people’s minds, some of which include, “What was she doing, what was she wearing, what did she say, how did she act?”
Other stars also popped up for a cameo in the video, adding how people “blame the woman for being irresponsibly leaving her house a later hour” and constantly ask, “Well, why did you go to the market alone, why did you not cover yourself up properly?”
The featured women in the BBC clip all had one thing in common and it was there disdain towards the atrocities being inflicted upon women across the country.
The short clip featuring the actress, is part of an interview she did with director Rose McGowan. In that conversation, Omar claimed that she had finally gathered the strength to speak about what had happened to her all those years ago.
Omar admitted, "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. I didn't wanna 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?'"