Emma: ‘Abuse is widespread’
HARRY POTTER star Emma Watson is the latest actress to speak out about sexual harassment, revealing she has experienced every kind imaginable in her almost two decades in the industry.
The woman who came to prominence as an 11-year-old playing Hermione Grainger in J K Rowling’s film franchise feels that unfortunately it is all too commonplace. “It’s amazing because I have experienced the full spectrum [of harassment],” she told Variety. “But I think that for me what is amazing is that my experiences are not unique, the experiences of my friends are not unique, the experiences of my colleagues are not unique. This issue is so systemic, structural.”
Speaking after Sunday’s Golden Globes the 27-year-old said she wants more focus on the subject generally and not just in the film industry.
“The statistics around – even in the United Kingdom – women between the ages of 18 and 24, huge, huge, huge numbers, say that they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace,” she said. “You realise, if you speak to most women, they have an experience, they have a story.
“We’re just uncovering. We’re just scratching the surface of this, which is what’s really crazy.”