Actor
Swara
Bhaskar
has
revealed
she
was
sexually
harassed
by
a
director
but
it
took
her
nearly
six
to
eight
years
to
realise
what
had
happened
as
the
culture
doesn't
teach
women
to
recognise
predatory
behaviour.
Swara,
without
taking
any
names,
said
the
harassment
happened
at
workplace
and
the
director
was
being
"predatory."
"It
took
me
6-8
years
to
realise
when
I
heard
someone
else
talk
about
their
experience
of
harassment
at
a
panel
discussion
like
this.
I
was
like
God,
what
happened
to
me
3
years
ago
was
actually
sexual
harassment
at
work
place!
I
never
realised
it
because
like
you
said,
I
escaped.
Because
the
person
did
not
touch
me
and
I
managed
to
ward
it
off," Swara
said.
"I
would
just
tell
myself
that
this
director
is
being...
whatever,
but
that
is
not
the
full
truth.
The
director
was
not
being
an
idiot
or
an
ass,
he
was
being
a
predator,"
she
added.
Swara
was
speaking
at
a
panel
discussion
on
the
life
of
Harvey
Weinstein
at
&Prive
HD's
Prive
Soiree.
Actor
Dia
Mirza,
Anand
Patwardhan
were
also
part
of
the
discussion.
The
actor
said
she
wasn't
able
to
recognise
that
pattern
or
behaviour
because
as
a
culture
"we
do
not
teach
our
girl
children
to
recognise
predatory
behaviour
for
what
it
is."
"There
is
so
much
of
culture
of
silence,
around
sexuality
in
India,
around
the
issue
of
sexual
harassment,
actually
not
just
In
India,
everywhere
around
the
world
that
we
are
just
going
through
are
lives
without
recognising
it
properly.
We
just
recognise
the
discomfort."
Before
moving
to
Mumbai,
Swara
lived
with
her
parents
in
Delhi,
who
had
a
university
background,
and
so
was
very
aware
of
things,
but
said
"the
real
world
is
the
world."
She
said
she
came
to
the
film
industry
thinking
if
someone
dares
to
proposition
her,
she
will
show
them
her
"upbringing
and
values"
but
nothing
of
this
sort
had
happened.
"It
is
really
sad,
because
then
slowly
I
began
to
realise
that
I
am
just
not
recognising
it.
Because
we
are
so
endured
to
handle
and
manage
things.
Since
childhood,
if
anything
happens
there
is
no
one
to
tell
you
that
this
is
sexual
harassment,"
she
said.
The
Veere
Di
Wedding
actor
said
women
avoid
taking
legal
route
because
they
face
a
hostile
society.
"First
of
these
things
is
completely
inhospitable
and
hostile
society
and
a
culture
that
actively
or
sub-consciously
enables
predators...
We
should
use
this
moment
to
not
just
talk
about
the
one
predator
that
got
caught
and
got
glamourised.
"But
we
should
also
talk
about
the
culture
that
enables
these
predators
to
reach
the
position
of
power
they
do.
So,
it's
also
a
question
of
making
ourselves
aware
of
many
things
that
go
into
legitimising
predatory
behaviour,"
she
added.
Credits
-
PTI