‘I was sexually abused as a child and raped’ – Fonda
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.
Fonda, 79, made the revelations in an interview with Academy Awardwinning 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.
“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 Fonda also spoke about her regrets as a mother to three children – Vanessa, Troy and Mary.
“I regret that I wasn’t a better parent. I didn’t know how to do it. But you can learn, so I studied how to be a parent,” she said. “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.”
Fonda, who won best actress Oscars for her roles in Klute and Coming Home in the 1970s, became an activist at the age of 31 to oppose the Vietnam War. She told Larson she had concerns that a Hollywood “blacklist” could return under the Trump presidency.
“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,” Fonda said.