Rosario Dawson has opened up about her own experience with sexual assault.
During an appearance on the podcast Morado Lens, the actress revealed that she was raped and molested as a child. Discussing sexual harassment in Hollywood and the workplace, Dawson told hosts Cindy Rodriguez and Nathalie Farfan, “I was raped and molested as a child, so for me, the world was like that since I was a child. When I saw it in the workplace, it wasn’t foreign to me. It was like, well, that even happens within [families]. It happens with people that are supposed to take care of you when you’re a child.”
Dawson’s revelation comes at a time when sexual harassment and assault are being openly discussed in Hollywood following allegations against powerful men like Harvey Weinstein and Russell Simmons.
In an op-ed for The New York Times last year, actress Lupita Nyong’o came forward accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment. In November, Simmons was also accused of sexual assault, stepping down from his companies shortly after the allegations were made public.
Dawson also opened up about losing her 26-year-old cousin, Vaneza Ines Vazquez, reflecting on how that death and the loss of her grandmother made her think about life.
“…If I had died at 26 [like Vasquez] it was a good life,” she said. However, Dawson explained that despite having lived a “good life,” she still seeks resolve. “Whenever my moment comes I want to know I lived a good life. I don’t want to just be marinating in the upset because I have a lot of trauma and sadness to dwell on if I want to, but there’s so much to be grateful for and I don’t want to waste my time not being dedicated to that.”
You can check out the full interview with Morado Lens here.