Actress Jane Fonda has revealed she is a rape survivor and suffered sexual abuse as a child.
The two-time Oscar-winner said she was also fired once because she refused to have sex with her boss.
Jane, 79, made the revelations in an interview with Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson to mark International Women’s Day on March 8.
She told The Edit magazine: “To show you the extent to which a patriarchy takes a toll on females, I’ve been raped, I’ve been sexually abused as a child and I’ve been fired because I wouldn’t sleep with my boss and I always thought it was my fault – that I didn’t do or say the right thing.
Jane Fonda (Ian West/PA)
“I know young girls who’ve been raped and didn’t even know it was rape. They think, ‘It must have been because I said no the wrong way’.
“One of the great things the women’s movement has done is to make us realise that (rape and abuse is) not our fault. We were violated and it’s not right.”
Barbarella star Jane also spoke about her regrets as a mother to three children – Vanessa, Troy and Mary.
She told The Edit: “I regret that I wasn’t a better parent.
Jane was interviewed by actress Brie Larson (Chris J Ratcliffe/PA)
“I didn’t know how to do it. But you can learn, so I studied how to be a parent.
“It’s never too late. I am trying to make up for what I didn’t know before.
“When I die, I want my family to be around me. I want them to love me and I have to earn that. I’m still working at it.”
Jane, who became an activist aged 31 to oppose the Vietnam War, voiced concerns that a Hollywood “blacklist” could return.
Jane Fonda (Yui Mok/PA)
She said: “When I found out what was really happening in Vietnam I didn’t care if I ever worked again. I considered leaving the business to become a full-time activist.
“My father was terrified for me. He remembered the 50s when people’s careers were destroyed.
“It’s possible the (Hollywood) blacklist will be brought back.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel